Ghost of green girl's present
by Ultimate Queen of Cliffies
Summary: She looked completely shocked. "Fiyero? You can see me?" He pointed a trembling finger at her. "You... You're not supposed to be here!" Fiyeraba. Shiz-era. AU.
1. Haunted

**AN: I think the description says it all, and the rest you'll find out after this chapter :). Just so you know: the title implies that this has anything to do with 'A Christmas Carol', or at the very least with Christmas/Lurlinemas, but that's not the case - I just thought the title fit nicely.**

**This story is inspired by, but not based on, the film 'Just Like Heaven'. **

**A very merry Christmas to all of you, my dearest darlingest reviewers! **

* * *

**Chapter 1. Haunted**

Fiyero was sitting on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands, wondering how this had happened.

An accident.

There had been several rumours going around campus for the past few days. Some of them were actually sort of plausible – like the one about a magic spell having gone wrong; but others were so ridiculous they made his blood boil. He just couldn't stand the fact that even now, they were still making fun of her.

"I heard she tried to commit suicide by jumping into Suicide Canal," Pfannee had stage whispered to her friends the day before.

Milla had shaken her head. "Didn't you hear? She's allergic to water," she'd informed the others. "I heard she got caught in a downpour of rain and her skin melted right off of her."

Avaric had scoffed. "And you girls actually believe that?"

"Why not?" Shenshen demanded. "Admit it, Avaric – that skin is just unnatural and creepy. It wouldn't surprise _me _if she really turned out to be allergic to water."

"She's not," Pfannee knew. "Some of the boys pulled that prank on her once, remember? Threw a bucket of water all over her? She didn't melt then."

"I still think she tried a spell to degreenify herself and it backfired," Avaric declared. He grinned. "Wish I'd been there to see that."

"Or maybe," Pfannee had giggled, "maybe Galinda finally realised what a pain the frog really is to have as a roommate and she tried to beat her to death with stiletto heels!"

All this time, Fiyero and Galinda had been standing in the hallway just behind them. Fiyero had been boiling with rage and Galinda had tried her hardest to keep him from attacking the group of friends, but at that last statement, he had felt her stiffen and he knew they had gone too far.

He'd stomped over to where they were standing, his expression murderous. He'd pushed Pfannee down onto the floor, punched Avaric in the face, and stood there yelling at them for Oz-knows-how-long, until Morrible finally hurried towards them and forced him to come with her. She'd told him she wouldn't punish him because she understood why he had done it, but she didn't want it to happen again.

And so now here he was, sitting in his room… alone. He couldn't stand to look at Galinda right now, her baby blue eyes filled with sorrow, her head down, except when she would look up at him with this hopeful, pleading look on her face, as if asking him to reassure her, to make it all better.

He wanted to. He really did. Even though he did not love her, he did care for her, and he hated to see her in so much pain… but couldn't she see that he was hurting, too? He couldn't comfort her. He didn't even know how to comfort himself.

And so here he was, sitting on the edge of his bed, staring off into the distance – or, well, at his wall, really – without actually seeing anything.

He'd worried about so many things. After what had happened with that Lion Cub, he had started to think. He had started to realise that he wasn't in love with Galinda and never would be. More importantly, he realised that he actually _was _in love, for the first time in his life, but it wasn't with the bubbly blonde. No, it was with her awkward, green roommate.

Ever since then, he had thought and worried more than ever before in his life. Around Elphaba, he had to think before he spoke, because if he said something brainless, she'd punish him for it. He had to be careful not to let her know about his feelings for her, because if he did, he knew she would run away.

He had worried about having to break up with Galinda and how this would affect Elphaba, given that they were best friends and Elphaba was more loyal to the blonde than anyone. He had come up with at least ten different ways for him to break up with his girlfriend as gently as possible, yet none of those ways seemed good enough. On top of that, he had to think of a way to tell Elphaba he loved her without having her running away from him and never coming back.

But never, _ever_, had he considered the possibility that he might not get the chance to tell her after all. The thought that something might happen to her, something bad, had never even crossed his mind.

And now it could be too late.

He let himself fall back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Run over by a carriage. The irony wasn't lost on him. One of the boys in his Economics class had been a witness to the accident – he said that Elphaba had been reading while walking, not really paying attention to her surroundings. The driver hadn't seen her and she had been hit by the carriage. That was now three days ago, and she had been in a coma ever since.

He rolled over on his side, looking at the picture on his bedside table. It was one of the very few pictures that had ever been made of Elphaba; it was one of their entire group together as they were lounging at the Shiz Café, now a few months ago. Nessa was sitting in her chair next to Boq, who was handing her a mug of hot chocolate, both of them looking utterly content. They had just gotten back together, Fiyero remembered. When Nessa had found out about Boq's true reasons for asking her to the OzDust that one night, she had been so angry she had broken up with him – which had led to him finally realising how much he really cared about the wheelchair-bound girl. He had apologised to her and told her he loved her then, and they had gotten back together. That had been a few days before this picture had been taken.

Galinda was sitting on a couch across from the pair, clearly giggling about something. Elphaba was curled up in an armchair next to the blonde, a book in her lap, as usual; but her body was turned towards Galinda, her head tilted slightly backwards as she laughed along with the blonde girl. He loved the picture because it captured the real Elphaba, the way she could be when she was at ease and relaxed and happy, instead of the cold, sarcastic green girl she presented to the world most of the time.

Fiyero himself was next to Galinda in the picture, sitting on the couch with a smile on his face. His arm was casually draped across the back of the couch, where his girlfriend was sitting; but his eyes were on Elphaba.

He sighed. If only he'd known about what would happen, he would have done so many things differently. He would have broken up with Galinda right away, he would have told Elphaba about his feelings for her… if he had, at least they could have had some time together.

But then again, maybe that would only have made things harder now.

"Oh, Fae…" he whispered, touching the picture, then picking it up to look at it more closely. He clutched it to his chest, blinking hard in an attempt to hold back the tears that were stinging his eyes.

He put back the photograph and got up, quickly moving into the bathroom to splash some water on his face, but it didn't make him feel better in the slightest. He pressed his face into a towel, breathing hard.

When he came back into his bedroom, he sank down on the edge of his bed, staring at the photo. "Just wake up, Fae," he whispered. "Please wake up soon."

"I'm sorry," someone whispered, and his head shot up. He quickly looked around the room, but he didn't seen anyone.

Then someone appeared from the shadows in the doorway and he gasped. "_Fae_?!"

* * *

She looked completely shocked. "_Fiyero_?! You can _see _me?!"

"You…" He pointed a trembling finger at her. "You're not supposed to be here!" he cried, completely stunned.

She stepped further into the room, her dark eyes never leaving his. "Given the fact that I woke up next to my own unconscious body a few days ago," she said, "I'm going to assume that you mean I'm not supposed to be here in general; and not that I'm not supposed to be _here_, as in, in the boys' dorm. Which, by the way, is also true, because girls aren't allowed in here and especially not at this time of day, but hey, no-one can see me, so who cares? And… and I'm rambling," she realised. "Sorry. I guess my being in a coma didn't change the fact that I always talk too much."

He was still gaping at her.

She shuffled around a bit uncomfortably. "Could you say something, please?"

"H-How?" he choked out.

She shrugged. "Believe me, if I knew, I'd tell you," she said. "Maybe this is some kind of coma-induced hallucination. I suppose that's it."

"I'm not in a coma," he pointed out, slowly coming to his senses again. "And yet here you are."

"Are you sure you're not dreaming?" she asked him.

"Only one way to find out." He held out his arm. "Pinch me."

She scoffed. "Fiyero, even if this is not a dream, I would never be able to do that," she said, though she was moving closer and reaching out to touch his arm. "I'm not real. My body is still at the hospital. You could never touch –"

That was the moment her fingers pinched the skin of his arm. They both felt the contact and they immediately jumped back.

Elphaba was staring at his arm with wide eyes and Fiyero felt a little faint. This couldn't be really happening, could it? Here was Elphaba, who was supposed to be in a coma, and she was some sort of… ghost… spirit… whatever… and she could touch him. He could touch her. Not just that – he could see and hear her, too. And he was the only one who could.

He voiced the one coherent thought that was running through his mind. "How in Oz is this possible?"

She looked just as faint as he felt. "I – I have no idea," she whispered, reaching out for something, anything, to support her. She found the arm of a chair and slowly lowered herself down into it, her face a few shades paler green than usual.

"What happened?" he asked her softly. "You said you woke up next to your own body a couple of days ago…"

She nodded, clearly dazed. "I don't know what happened," she croaked. "I just opened my eyes and I found myself standing next to… well, myself. I quickly figured out what was going on, that I was in a coma…" She trailed off. "I… I spent the past few days trying to find out how this is possible," she said. "How I'm still here, but not really _here_. No-one can see me, Yero. No-one. I tried to talk to Galinda, to Nessa, to Boq… Sweet Oz, I even talked to Madame Morrible! I thought that what with all her magic powers, at least _she _would be able to see me, but… but she couldn't. No-one can. But you…"

She rose to her feet again and started pacing the room. "I don't even know why I came here," she said. "I soon discovered that I could travel somewhere, anywhere, by just thinking about a place and imagining myself to be there. I've been travelling back and forth between Shiz and the hospital like that. I wanted to hear more about my… condition… but I also wanted to keep an eye on Galinda, and on Nessa… I slept in my own bed in our shared dorm every night," she whispered. "I would go there when Galinda had fallen asleep and be gone again before she woke up in the morning – I mean, I can apparently still touch objects and I didn't want to creep her out by having her find an invisible person in my bed in the morning." She ran her fingers through her long, straight hair. "And then I thought of you… and I decided to come and check up on you, and…" She bit her lip. "I don't understand any of this."

He reached out to place his hand on her arm comfortingly, but she jerked away from his touch.

"Shh, it's okay," he said, reaching for her again. This time she allowed him to touch her, and he was a bit surprised for a moment. He wasn't sure, but he had expected her to feel… different, somehow. She didn't. She felt just the same as always, she looked the same, she sounded the same… she even smelt the same, he realised as he moved closer to her to trail soothing circles on her back.

"It'll be okay, Fae," he said, trying to keep his voice confident. "We'll find a way to fix this."

She gave him a sarcastic look, which, for some reason, made him chuckle. It was just such an _Elphaba _thing to do.

"Don't talk nonsense, Tiggular," she said gruffly, moving away from him to sit down on his bed. "How are you going to fix this? Take my… well, _me_… and put it back into my body?"

His eyes brightened, but she burst his bubble before he could get his hopes up. "I already tried that. It was the first thing I did – trying to lie down on my own body and get back into it. Didn't work. If it had, I wouldn't be here right now."

His face fell. "Oh. Well, maybe we could…" He faltered. He really had no idea what else they could do to fix this situation.

She plopped down onto his bed. "I guess we'll figure something out," she said with a sigh. "Tomorrow. But right now it's late, and…" She fidgeted with her hands in her lap, looking down. Then she looked up at him again. "I don't really want to go back to my dorm room," she confessed. "I mean… I want to be with Galinda right now, but at the same time I don't. She doesn't even know I'm there and I just can't stand that look in her eyes…" She trailed off.

"I know," Fiyero muttered. "Believe me, I know what you mean." He met her gaze. "You can stay here," he said. "If you want to."

A small smile graced her lips. "Really?"

He nodded and experienced the pleasure of seeing her smile widen. "Thank you, Yero."

"Anytime." He approached her, reaching behind her to grab some pillows from his bed. "You can sleep in the bed," he said. "I'll just take the couch."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his finger at her. "Not a word. The couch is fine." He pulled a blanket from his closet and made himself a bed on the couch, which really wasn't all that uncomfortable.

Suddenly, he thought of something, and he raised his head to look at her. "Fae? Do ghosts even sleep?"

"I'm not a ghost," she muttered indignantly. "Ghosts are the leftovers from dead people – if you believe in that stuff, which I don't."

"You know what I mean," Fiyero said in mild exasperation. "What do you want me to call your current form, then? Spirit?"

She scoffed.

"Soul?"

"I don't have a soul."

"If that's true, then what in Oz am I talking to right now?"

She fell silent, unable to come up with a retort. She lay down and pulled the blanket over herself. "Yes, I sleep," she answered his question curtly. "Goodnight, Fiyero."

Despite everything, that made him grin.

* * *

**Reviews make great Christmas presents! :D Favourite lines?**


	2. Needed

**AN: "Three updates on three stories in just one day?" I can hear you all think. Yes, that's right. I should totally change my name to Ultimate Queen of Updates. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?**

**Just kidding, of course. This is just what happens when Christmas gives you inspiration and the site decides to keep you from logging into your account, leaving all your updates sitting in Microsoft Word, unposted and unread... sniffle sniffle.**

**PocketSevens: Like I said, that's what it's based on ;). I love that movie.**

**NymeriaFae: It is! :)**

**Severussnapefan123: He didn't... yet.**

**HollyBush: I'm sorry for distracting you! But I love that you're reading and reviewing, so I'll just keep on distracting you for at least ten more chapters *smirk*.**

* * *

**Chapter 2. Needed**

When he woke up in the morning, she was gone.

He blinked a few times, stretching; then he pushed himself up from the couch and looked over at the bed. "Elphaba?"

His bed was neatly made up, the pillows fluffed and the blankets straightened out, but the green girl was nowhere to be seen.

Fiyero pushed the blanket off him and rose to his feet, looking around him sleepily. "Fae?"

He ran his fingers through his messy hair and walked over to the bathroom, poking his head around the door; but she wasn't in there, either.

Feeling a bit more awake now, he hurried over towards the small kitchen, then to the formal sitting area, but Elphaba was nowhere to be found.

He went back into the bedroom and stared at the bed. Nothing, no proof whatsoever that she had slept there. He didn't understand. Where had she gone? Had she left?

He closed his eyes for a moment, mentally kicking himself. _No, of course she hasn't left, you brainless idiot. She was never here in the first place. You just had a strange dream, that's all._

He sat down on the bed, his fingers playing with a pillow. What else could it have been but a dream? He really was stupid for believing that it had really happened. People didn't show up in your dorm room when they were in a coma. He scoffed at himself. Had he really believed that her ghost – soul, spirit, whatever – had come to visit him? He must be going crazy now.

He sighed, put the pillow back and went into the bathroom to get ready for class.

* * *

When he came out of the bathroom again, towelling his wet hair, there was a delicate knock on the door. "Fifi, dearest? Are you ready?"

He sighed and opened the door to reveal his bubbly, blonde, pinkified girlfriend. Only she wasn't bubbly, her blonde curls were hanging limply down her face, and she was wearing…

"Galinda," Fiyero said, shocked. "Are you wearing _black_?"

"Dark blue," she said defensively. She sniffled. "Black is the colour of mourning, Fiyero. Don't say such awful things. Elphie will be fine again, just you wait and see."

He softened and squeezed her hand. "Of course, Glin."

She sniffled again. "I just… I wanted to wear something that reminded me of her," she said in a small voice.

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, then let go of her, moving back towards the bathroom. "Give me a clock-tick to do my hair."

"Okay." Galinda turned around and frowned in confusion. "Fiyero? Have you slept on the couch last night?"

He was silent for a moment. Then he appeared from the bathroom again, laughing a bit nervously. "Why would you ask that?"

Galinda pointed at the couch. "There's a blanket there," she said. "And pillows. And your bed is completely made up, which means you didn't sleep there, because you couldn't make a bed this neatly to save your life."

Fiyero stared at the bed for a few moments. Then he turned around again and stared at the couch.

_If Elphaba wasn't really here, then why in Oz did I sleep on the couch?_

"I, um… I fell asleep on the couch last night," he lied. "I was just sitting there all night… thinking."

Galinda smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. "You've been doing that an awful lot lately." She sighed and sat down on the couch delicately. "Though I can't say I really blame you. I've been thinking a lot myself these past few days."

He wasn't sure what to say at that, but Galinda shook her head and rose back to her feet again. "Come on, or we'll be late for class."

He offered her his arm, which she accepted gracefully, and together they walked across campus to their first class of the day.

Galinda sat down in her usual seat and Fiyero took the seat next to her. Ever since they had befriended Elphaba, they had compromised; Elphaba refused to sit in the back and Galinda and Fiyero both refused to sit in the front, so they took a seat in the middle, next to the window. Galinda was staring out of said window, her chin in her hands, apparently lost in thought, and Fiyero felt sorry for her. Even though he didn't love her, he thought it was awful to see her like this. She was still pretty and she was smiling all the time, but her heart wasn't in it; her smile didn't reach her eyes and there was a certain sadness about her that was weighing her down, causing her to walk instead of bounce, smile instead of giggle, keep quiet instead of talk all the time. It was so unlike Galinda and it was unnerving to say the least.

Fiyero sighed and for the umpteenth time since he had entered the classroom, his gaze was drawn towards the empty seat next to him, where Elphaba usually sat. The teacher came in and asked for their attention, and he slowly looked up and fixed his gaze on the blackboard, but his mind was miles away.

As the professor started the lecture, Fiyero's mind wandered. He really should break up with Galinda. No matter what would happen to Elphaba, it wasn't fair to lead his blonde girlfriend on like this. In his mind, he started practising different ways to tell her.

_Galinda, I need to tell you something. I'm in love with someone else._

No. Too blunt.

_Glin, I'm really sorry, but… but you're not the one for me. And I don't think it's fair to keep this up when my heart so clearly isn't in it._

That was a nice beginning. Now for the hard part.

_In fact, I'm actually in love with someone else._

He would have to bring that carefully. And once Galinda would calm down and ask him with whom, he would have to tell her.

_With Elphaba. Yes, indeed, with the green girl, the school outcast, who is currently in a coma. I'm leaving you for someone who might never wake up again. Isn't my timing just splendiferous?_

He sighed, drumming his pencil against the table impatiently. He really was an idiot. Why couldn't he have done something about this sooner?

"Stop fidgeting and pay attention," a voice next to him hissed, a hand clasping his to stop his movements.

He sighed again. "Yes, Ga-" He cut himself off when he realised that the hand currently covering his was emerald green, and that the voice he heard was not his girlfriend's.

His head whipped around and his eyes widened when they locked with Elphaba's chocolate brown ones.

He involuntarily jumped, hitting his knee hard against the table and yelping in pain. The professor interrupted his lecture to glare at the prince over his glasses. "Master Fiyero?" he asked sarcastically. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no," he hastened to assure the man with a small, nervous laugh. "Not a problem. None at all."

"Would you mind if I continued my lecture, then?" the professor said pointedly, and Fiyero motioned for him to go ahead.

Then he turned towards Elphaba. "What in Oz are you doing here?" he hissed.

She snorted. "You really think I would miss any of my classes?" she hissed back at him. "I may be in a coma, but if I ever do wake up, I'd like to _not _be behind in every subject imaginable."

"_When_," Fiyero corrected her a bit crossly. "Not _if _you wake up, _when _you wake up. Because you will."

She gave him a look, but ignored him otherwise. "Besides," she continued, "it's not like I have much else to do." She leant back in her chair. "At first I thought it was kind of nice that no-one can see me – it's the first time in my life that I can go wherever I want without being stared at." She smiled absently. "But then," she sighed, "then I realised that life is actually pretty boring when you have no-one to talk to."

"Well, now you have me," he said, grinning.

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "I'm really glad you can see me, Yero," she said. "Never thought I'd say this, but I started missing human contact."

He slowly reached out to take her hand under the table, and her smile widened.

"I thought I just dreamt everything that happened last night," he confessed to her in a whisper. "I mean, you were gone this morning, and I… well, I thought my mind had been playing tricks on me. Where did you go, anyway?"

She shrugged. "To check up on Galinda," she said. "And Nessa." She paused. "And my own… um… body."

He nodded in understanding.

"Fiyero?" Galinda whispered from his other side, a puzzled expression on her face. "Who are you talking to?"

He turned towards her, plastering on a bright smile. "No-one," he said as innocently as possible. "I was just talking to myself."

"Oh." She flashed him a strange look, but directed her attention back to the lecture.

Fiyero sighed. Elphaba sniggered beside him. "The perks of being invisible."

He grunted. "Yeah, but if someone hears me, I'm the one that will get the weird looks," he muttered, crossing his arms.

She sniffed, mirroring his gesture. "And that would just be _awful_, wouldn't it? To get weird looks from your classmates?"

He realised what she meant and felt a bit guilty. "Okay, okay, point taken. I'm sorry."

She nodded, accepting his apology.

"But still," he continued, "I don't think it's fair. There's two of us talking during a lecture, and yet if the teacher catches us talking again, it's _me _that will face punishment, not you."

Her eyes narrowed. "You don't think it's _fair_?" she hissed, her voice dangerously low. "Are you serious? You know what, Fiyero? There are worse things than getting detention!"

"Like what?" he grumbled, remembering the last time he was in detention. He'd had to write an essay for three hours – _three hours! _– about the history of Oz. He shuddered at the mere memory. Those had been the worst three hours of his life.

Elphaba, however, was now fuming with rage, her dark eyes deadly, but with some hurt shimmering through. "Like being in a coma and not knowing if you'll ever wake up again!" she snapped.

With that, she abruptly disappeared.

Fiyero sighed. It was official. He had screwed up – big time.

* * *

When he came back into his dorm room late that night – he had been out for dinner with Galinda, Nessa and Boq - he nearly dropped his bag when he saw Elphaba curled up in the window seat with a book in her lap.

She looked up and smirked. "Are you going to be shocked _every _time you lay eyes on me?"

"I am if you're going to keep showing up at random times and places," he retorted. "And aside from that, I'm still not really used to this – I mean, can you blame me? You're not supposed to be here at all!"

Her smirk faded and he cringed inwardly. _Wrong move, Tiggular_. Why was he always so brainless around her?

"I'm sorry," he muttered, staring at his feet. "That was rude."

"But true."

He looked up now. She had drawn her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring out of the window, making it impossible for him to see her facial expression.

"No," he said, moving closer. "I'm really sorry. About earlier today, too. I was being brainless and stupid, and what I said just now was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

Her shoulders rose and fell in some sort of half-shrug. "It's fine, Fiyero." She turned her head to cast a brief glance in his direction. "It's not like I'm not used to you being brainless."

He chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He kicked his bag in a corner and went to sit in the window seat next to her. She scooted over a little to make room for him and he crossed his long legs, looking out the window as well. "Did you go to your other classes today, too?"

She shrugged again. "I went to my Life Sciences class," she said. "But other than that… It's not like I can take notes, and it just feels so… _wrong_ to be there amongst all those other students that don't even know I'm there."

By now he knew her well enough to read between her lines, and he heard what she wasn't saying. "You heard them talking about you." It was a statement, not a question.

She sighed. "It's nothing I haven't heard before." He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Okay, it is, of course. They're no longer wondering whether I'm green all over or whether I ate grass as a child. Instead they're wondering whether someone tried to kill me or I tried to kill myself. Apparently they think both of those theories are plausible, given that so many people hate me and I am a very depressed and unhappy person." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but he knew that she was only doing that to hide the fact that it stung what other people were saying about her.

"Fae, I'm sorry," he said softly, but she waved him away.

"Don't be. It's fine." She snorted. "The best one, in my opinion, was Avaric's. He's convinced that I tried to 'degreenify' myself and that the spell backfired, leaving me in a coma."

"Yes," Fiyero muttered, his face darkening upon remembering the little incident in the hallway a few days prior. "I heard."

"Funny, though," she mused aloud, "how they never even _considered _that maybe, just maybe, the strange, outcast green girl just had a stupid _accident_. I mean, accidents are far more common than murders. Or suicides, for that matter. Why would they immediately assume that something that extreme happened to me? Because I'm green? Does that mean I can't get hurt in an accident like any other _normal _person could?"

She was getting worked up now, but the moment she realised that, she deflated again, sighing.

"Whatever," she said wearily. "Let them think what they want. I just… don't want to hear it if I can help it." She swallowed. "Not to mention that Galinda and Nessa were in that Life Sciences class, too, and… well, I just can't stand looking at them," she confessed softly. "Galinda tries so hard to be cheerful, but I can see how sad she is, and Nessa… she looks like she might burst into tears at any given moment. She's my little sister, Fiyero." She looked up at him sadly. "She has always been my responsibility. Not just to care for her in a practical way, but to make sure she's happy, to comfort her when she's sad, and… and now I'm the reason she's sad and there's nothing I can do to comfort her. Nothing whatsoever."

Fiyero reached for her hand and she slipped her fingers into his, giving him a small, but grateful smile when he squeezed her hand consolingly. He didn't completely understand where she was coming from – he knew that she cared for Nessa very much, but he didn't know how deep that bond went. Nevertheless he _did _understand how hard it must be for her to see the ones she loved in so much pain, and he felt sorry for her. It must be horrible, what she was going through.

She was picking at one of her toenails now, and only then did he realise that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Now that he thought about it… she hadn't been wearing any shoes the day before, either. He wondered if she even had shoes as a ghost-spirit-soul-something.

She was wearing one of her usual black frocks, but she wore her hair down, and he wondered if this was what she had looked like when she had ended up in that coma.

Immediately he laughed at himself inwardly. _She was run over by a carriage. Do you really think she was walking across campus barefooted?_

"Hey, Fae?"

"Mm?"

"Just wondering." He frowned a little, slightly confused. "Where are your shoes?"

She looked down at her feet, then back up at him. "Really?" she demanded in exasperation. "That's what you're wondering about? With everything that's going on, you want to know where my _shoes _are?"

He flashed her a – hopefully – charming smile. "I have a keen eye for detail?" he tried.

She laughed and threw a small pillow at him. "You're such an idiot. I took them off, okay? When I tried to go to sleep, the first night after it happened, I took my boots off, and then they disappeared. I didn't really see that coming, but I can't say I really care, either. I've always found it nice to walk around barefooted."

He shook his head, smiling. "You're a piece of work, aren't you?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm just going to pretend you meant that as a compliment."

"I did," he told her truthfully.

Her eyes narrowed even further until they were nothing more than two dark slits.

"Galinda wore dark blue today," he said, changing the subject, and she looked away.

"Yes," she said quietly. "I know." She let out a small laugh. "It's strange, really… I never thought anyone would miss me. I never thought anyone would care… to see Galinda this upset now, and Nessa…" She swallowed. "And you," she added softly. "On the first day, I hid behind a curtain in my hospital room, and… and I saw you. You came to visit me."

He nodded. Of course he had come to visit her. He loved her – even though she didn't know that.

"It was awful," she said quietly. "It really was awful to see you like that."

She shook her head and rose to her feet. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep now."

Not wanting to push her, he nodded and quickly changed into his own nightclothes, settling down on the couch and turning off the lights.

It was quiet for a while. Then she confessed softly, "In a way, it's… nice. To know that I would be missed, you know? That there are people out there who actually care enough about me to… I don't know."

He nodded, even though she couldn't see that in the dark.

"But then again," she whispered, "they would get over it. I really do think they'd miss me, Galinda and Nessa, maybe even Boq… but they'd get over it eventually. I guess they _like _me, but no-one really _needs _me." She sighed and turned around. "You know what? Never mind. Goodnight, Fiyero."

Her breathing quickly evened out, and he closed his eyes. "I do," he whispered. "I need you."

But he knew that she was already asleep and hadn't heard him.

* * *

**Go on ahead. Click that review button. It's begging you to click it, do you see that? It's looking at you pleadingly, with those cute puppy eyes and that cute pout, begging, "Click me! Click me!" You don't want to make it sad, do you?**


	3. Shattered

**AN: I love how you all started talking to the cute little review button :').**

**Ozzie & theotherelphaba11: Yes, it was a Catching Fire reference ^_^. It was accidental at first, but I love CF, so I left it in because I find it so cute.**

**HollyBush, that actually made me laugh :P. Why do you hate bare feet so much? And yes, I hate typing on my smartphone, too I'll take a laptop over a smartphone anytime.**

* * *

**Chapter 3. Shattered**

"So I was thinking…"

"Mmwwwaaaaahhhh."

"Fiyero, cover your mouth with your hand when you yawn. I don't really fancy staring down that big black hole of yours." Someone pinched his side and he shot up.

"I'm awake!" he muttered indignantly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and running his fingers through his bed-hair. "Oz, what time is it? Is that a ghostly thing? To be up at the crack of dawn?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "One: I'm not a ghost."

He mumbled something unintelligible.

"Two: It's not the crack of dawn. It's half past seven already."

He moaned. "Half past seven?!"

"And three," she continued, ignoring him, "that's not a 'ghostly' thing, but an Elphaba thing. Ask Galinda."

He took her in drowsily. Her dress didn't look at all like she had slept in it the night before – it looked like she had freshly washed and ironed it and pulled it out of her wardrobe this morning – and her hair fell down her shoulders in soft, silky waves, as if she had just brushed it. She looked far more awake than a person should this time of the day.

"Like I said," she began again, "I was thinking…"

He groaned. "At this hour?"

She glared at him. "Do you want me to punch you?"

"I don't know. _Can _you punch me?"

"I can touch you," she pointed out. "I think I should be able to punch you, too."

He grimaced. "Alright, alright, I'm awake." He pushed himself into a sitting position, brushing his hair away from his face. "What were you thinking about?"

"Well…" She looked at him. "I was thinking… maybe I can ask the Wizard for help."

He frowned, not understanding. "The Wizard?"

She knocked his head. "Wake up, Fiyero! The Great and Powerful Oz? The man that holds all the power in this land? Our ruler? The man I've been dying to meet since I was a little girl? _That _Wizard?"

"I know who the Wizard is," he muttered indignantly. "My mind doesn't work that fast this early in the morning, okay? Unlike _some of us_, I'm usually not up until at least two hours from now."

She smirked. "I'm surprised your mind works at all."

He threw a pillow at her. It hit her and caused her to topple off the couch and onto the floor.

He grinned; then he frowned. "How does _that _work, anyway?" he asked her curiously. "You're not real, but you can touch things?"

"You tell me." She scrambled to her feet again and hit him with the pillow. "Maybe it has something to do with my magic." She tilted her head a little to the side. "Do you think I could influence that? I mean… that if I focus, I can make objects go right through me, like in ghost stories?"

"I thought you said you weren't a ghost."

She glared her deadliest glare at him. He gulped. "Okay, okay, let's… give that a try?"

She nodded and stepped back. "Throw that pillow at me."

He watched her for a moment as she closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose in concentration. Then he tossed the pillow.

It went right through her and landed on the bed.

She opened one eye. "Did it work?" She took in his wide eyes and his open mouth, then turned around to see the pillow lying behind her, and she grinned. "It worked! Do you think I could walk through walls now?"

He opened and closed his mouth a few times.

She laughed. "Do I make you speechless?" she teased him.

"Every time," he choked out, making her laugh harder. He looked at her. He loved the sound of her laugh.

"Anyway, what I was saying," she said as she took a seat on his bed, crossing her legs, "is that I can transport myself anywhere I want now, right?"

"So you said," he said, leaning back against the couch. "But you've only been transporting yourself between Shiz and the hospital, right?"

She shook her head. "I went to Munchkinland, too," she said, her voice softer. "A few days ago. To… to check on my father."

He grimaced slightly. "Oh."

She looked at him. "He sent Nessa a letter," she said. "I read it when she was asleep. He feels so sorry for his little girl, he wishes he could be there for her but he has important business to attend to, and he hopes she'll be okay."

Fiyero knew. Nessa had told them about that letter. She had been immensely upset that her father would only worry about _her _when it was her sister that was currently in a coma. Galinda had flushed, but she had later confessed to Fiyero that it didn't surprise her much. Elphaba had told her about her father before and the blonde knew that he didn't care too much about his green daughter.

"I went to see him," Elphaba went on. She let out a soft, hollow laugh. "He already cleared out my room, did you know that? I think he hopes I won't ever wake up again."

He was shocked. "Elphaba!"

"Oh, don't be like that!" She drew her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them. "It's true, after all. He doesn't care one twig about me, Fiyero. I've accepted that a long time ago. I just wish it wouldn't make Nessie so sad."

He couldn't understand how she could be so casual about this; but then again, he had no idea what it was like to grow up with a father that hated you because you were born a different colour.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, but she waved him away.

"Don't be."

They sat in silence for a while. Then he asked, "So what were you saying about the Wizard?"

She started. "Oh, yes! You keep distracting me." She shook her head. "I was saying that I could transport myself to the Emerald City and try to talk to him. I mean, he's the most magical person in Oz, right? If anyone could see me, it'd be him. Beside you, I mean. And… I don't know, maybe he could help me back into my own body, or something."

"Maybe," Fiyero said. "I think it's worth the try, if nothing else."

Elphaba smiled at him. "Exactly."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Fiyero glanced at the time and cursed. "It's that late already?" He sighed and went to open the door.

Galinda took one look at his sleepy head and started giggling. "I forgot how much of a non-morning person you are. Can I come in?"

"Sure," he said wearily, gesturing for her to enter, which she did.

"Look at her," Elphaba said softly. "So typically Galinda. I can see how sad she is, but she tries to hide it beneath layers of make-up and smiles." She sighed. "I feel guilty."

Fiyero glanced at her quickly. "It's hardly your fault that you're in a coma."

"Mm?" Galinda turned around. "Did you say something, dearest?"

Fiyero shook his head. "I was just saying to myself that I need to shower," he said.

Elphaba sniggered softly. "You always tell yourself out loud that you need to go and shower?"

He glared at her before casting a radiant smile in Galinda's direction. "I'll be right back."

He quickly disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door behind him, letting out a breath. He should be careful with that. It was already becoming so normal for him to see and talk to Elphaba that he hadn't even thought about the fact that Galinda couldn't see or hear her at all.

He turned around and let out a very unmanly shriek.

"Fifi?" Galinda asked anxiously from the other side of the door. "Are you alright in there?"

"F-Fine!" he called back, staring daggers at the green girl smirking at him from across the room. "There's just a… um… spider!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"A spider?" Galinda's voice rose in pitch. "Since when are you afraid of spiders?"

"It startled me, that's all!" he called back. He flushed the toilet. "There! It's gone! I'll be out in a minute!"

"Okay," Galinda replied, sounding slightly dazed.

Fiyero put his hand over his heart. "Sweet _Oz_, Elphaba!" he hissed. "You're walking into my _bathroom _now?! I thought I locked the door!"

"You did." She spread her arms. "I can walk through walls. Isn't that amazing? I wish I could study my current form. It would make the most wonderful Science project."

Fiyero glared at her. "It's a _bathroom_," he stressed. "You don't just walk into a bathroom unannounced! What if I had been naked?"

She rolled her eyes again. "You were only in here for two clock-ticks," she pointed out. "Even you can't undress yourself that quickly."

"'Even me'?" he echoed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She gave him an innocent smile. "Nothing." She waved at him. "Have fun in class. I'm off to see the Wizard!"

With that, she disappeared again.

* * *

"HE'S A FRAUD!"

Fiyero winced and looked to his side. Elphaba came stomping into the classroom, clearly fuming, eyes burning. "Would you believe that?!" she shouted at him. "He's a fraud! The Wizard is a total fake! And _Morrible _is working with him!"

Fiyero glanced around him at the filled classroom, then back at Elphaba, but she didn't get the hint.

"I never thought this could happen!" She started pacing. "He doesn't have any magic at all! They have a magic book, but that's it, and… and do you know what the worst part is? I heard Morrible say something about me to the Wizard. _Me_. She was telling him that it's such a shame that the green girl was in a coma, and she hoped I would wake up soon because otherwise she'd have to find herself a new candidate to work for her and the Wizard. And that maybe if I died they could ask Galinda, because she's so gullible and at least she wouldn't question their motives!" She stopped and looked at Fiyero again. "They just wanted to use me!"

Fiyero raised his hand, catching the teacher's attention. "Um… may I go to the bathroom?" he asked sheepishly.

The professor gave him a weird look, but nodded, and Fiyero quickly ran out of the classroom, pulling Elphaba with him into the hallway.

"What happened?" he asked her.

She looked like she was going to explode. "I arrived there, in the Throne Room, and there was no-one to be seen – just this giant mechanical head that was hanging down. Then Morrible came in, which was strange in itself; and she locked the door behind her. Then this man came out from behind that giant head, and Morrible kept on calling him 'Your Ozness'…" She trailed off and shook her head angrily. "I just can't believe it… They said all these things, Fiyero, about me, and… and they had this big magic book, but from what I understand, Morrible can hardly read anything from it and the Wizard can't read it at all. It's a spell book in a lost language. And the Wizard… Fiyero, the Wizard is a _fraud_. He doesn't have any magical powers at all."

Fiyero touched her arm. "I'm so sorry, Fae."

She sighed, suddenly deflating, and she slumped against the wall. "What am I going to do now?" she whispered. "The Wizard can't help me. No-one can. What if I never wake up again, Fiyero? What if I'm going to be like this forever?"

"Don't talk like that," he said firmly. He placed both his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Fae, you'll be fine. You have to believe that."

She looked up at him, and the look in those large, dark brown eyes broke his heart. On an impulse, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered. "Really. We'll find a way."

Her voice sounded uncharacteristically small. "How, Fiyero?"

He squeezed her softly, then let go again to look at her. "I don't know," he said. "But we'll figure something out. Okay?"

She nodded, and he smiled at her. "Come on," he said. "I'm done for today. Let's go to my room."

She shook her head. "You're not done for today," she pointed out to him. "You have to go back to class, and if I'm not mistaken, you have another class after this one. I don't want you to skip them. Just go. I'll be fine."

He sighed, but gave in. "Fine. I'll see you tonight, then?"

She nodded. "See you tonight."

He squeezed her hand one last time, then let go and went back into the classroom.

Elphaba turned around and started running until she reached Suicide Canal. Then she picked up a rock and smashed it into the water, screaming in frustration, all her anger and disappointment bubbling to the surface again. The Wizard, the one man she had believed in her entire life, the one person she thought might be able to help her with her current situation, wasn't real. What was she going to do now? She knew as well as Fiyero himself did that the prince could not help her return to her own body, no matter how badly he wanted to. He was helpless when it came to this. They both were.

She kicked another rock into the water, her entire body tense. Her fingertips were tingling and for a brief moment she wondered whether she still had her magic in her current form.

Then the answer came in the form of a tree randomly bursting into flames.

She curled and flexed her fingers and started taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Students gathered around the tree, whispering, staring and pointing at it.

"It's the ghost!" someone shrieked, and Elphaba recognised the girl as Milla, one of Galinda's friends. "It's the ghost of the Artichoke, coming back to haunt us!"

Elphaba actually laughed at that, even though the sound was hollow and mirthless. They had no idea how right they were.

She picked up another rock and plunged it into the Canal. Immediately the students' attention shifted towards the water.

"It _is _her!" a boy cried, and they all started talking excitedly at the same time.

Elphaba, however, was staring at the water, then back at the students, and then at the tree.

She had an idea.

* * *

"Yero?"

He looked up, flashing her a small, tired smile. "Hey."

She approached cautiously, a hint of pain visible in her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, looking back at the figure in the bed. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I just… I guess I was hoping for a revelation, or something."

She stood next to him. Together they looked at the lifeless body in the bed.

"With all the crazy stuff that happened to me because of my powers," Elphaba whispered, "I think this tops the list of 'craziest things I've done in my life'."

Fiyero smiled slightly. "Staring down at yourself?"

She shuddered. "I don't really like coming here," she admitted softly. "I want to hear what they say about me, so I eavesdrop on the doctors sometimes, but… but to see myself lying here is like… like looking into my future, or something. Like seeing myself when I'm already dead."

He understood what she meant. The girl in the bed was the same as the girl standing next to him, yet they were so different. "You look that way," he said quietly. "Dead. No offense, or anything…"

She choked out a laugh. "None taken."

"…but you don't look like… _you_. You're so pale, and… I don't know. It's like you're not really in there anymore."

She waved at herself. "I'm not, remember?"

He grinned. "Good point."

She rolled her eyes and moved to the other side of the bed, studying her own face. "This is so weird," she muttered under her breath. She sat down on the edge of the bed, then lay down, trying to merge with her real body.

Fiyero shuddered. "That must be the creepiest thing I've ever seen," he declared.

She raised her head, making him wince. "Oh, please don't do that," he begged her. "It's like you have two heads now."

She smirked and got up again with a sigh. "Like I said, I'm not getting sucked back into my own body, so do you have any other ideas?"

"Not at the moment," he confessed.

She shook her head slightly. "I'm getting out of here," she said. "I hate being here, and my own dead body isn't going to tell me anything, so…"

"You're not dead!" he protested hotly. "Stop saying that!"

She shrugged. "I might as well be," was all she said before she disappeared on him again.

He sighed, shoulders slumped. Then he rose to his feet and looked down at Elphaba's body in the hospital bed. "You'll be fine again, Fae," he whispered. "You may not believe that, but I do."

He kissed her forehead and left the room.

* * *

**The cute little review button still likes to be tickled!**

**...Okay, that was creepy :3. Still, though. I love reviews ^_^.**


	4. Scared

**AN: I really love writing this one. I'm not sure why. Maybe because the focus is almost entirely on Fiyeraba now, given that he's the only one who can see her and stuff.**

**I saw Frozen again last night. It was wonderfulozmazifing :). Like, Let-It-Go-goosebumps and certain-sad-spoiler-thing-happening-tears.**

* * *

**Chapter 4. Scared**

"She still hasn't woken up?"

Morrible shook her head. "She has not improved at all, Your Ozness," she said. "She hasn't gotten worse, either, but the longer she stays like this, the smaller the chances are of her ever waking up again."

The Wizard paced up and down the Throne Room. He looked up at his large, mechanical head, hanging down right now. He needed that girl. Smoke and mirrors, that was all his 'magic' really was; and he needed someone with _real _magic to do certain things for him. To suppress the Animals, to convince the people that his magic was real and strong and dangerous…

He sighed and turned back to Morrible. "What about this Galinda girl?" he asked.

Morrible shook her head. "Bubbly, bouncy and popular," she said. "She would do anything for a chance to work with you, but her powers are far less strong than Miss Elphaba's. I don't think she would be able to read the Grimmerie if she studied it for a lifetime."

The Wizard sighed again. "What are we going to do?" he mumbled, pacing again. "Isn't there a spell that could wake her up? Get her out of her coma?"

Morrible shook her head again. "No such spell exists, Your Ozness," she said.

The Wizard frowned, still pacing, trying to think of a new plan.

Morrible turned around and frowned. "What is that bucket doing there on the floor?"

He waved his hand. "My mechanical head needed a new layer of paint," he said dismissively. "Those annoying servants forgot to clean up again."

Morrible looked into the bucket, which was a shiny golden colour. She shook her head. "Show off," she muttered under her breath. "Why is that head gold, anyway?"

"The colour gold expresses power, Madame Morrible. Surely you know that." The Wizard stopped in front of the head again. The eyes were glowing a bright green colour, staring at him, and he frowned. Hadn't the head been hanging down just moments ago…?

He shook his head, irritated with himself. He must be seeing things now. Mechanical heads didn't move by themselves.

"Madame Morrible," he said, turning around again. "What do you suggest we do about the situation with Miss Elphaba?"

"I'd say we wait it out," she said. "She might still wake up, and then there will be no problem at all – a little delay at most, but her powers are quite impressive. I am sure she will catch up on her Sorcery lessons in no time. If she does not wake up… well, we can see about that once it actually happens, right? Maybe the girl will wake up tonight and then everything will be perfectly fine again."

The Wizard nodded. "I suppose you're right." He sighed and turned.

The mechanical head's eyes were a bright red now.

"Madame Morrible?" he said, his voice trembling slightly. "Have you been using magic lately?"

She looked bewildered. "Why would you ask?"

He pointed at the head. "I would have sworn those eyes were green not moments ago," he said. "And no-one is behind it, right? So why is it not hanging down, the way it always is when I'm not using it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Morrible said irritably, waving her hand. "Maybe you left it in a different position this time. We have more important things to worry about than your head, Your Ozness. It's late now – I suggest we both go to sleep and I will check up on Miss Elphaba again in the morning, yes?"

"A-Alright," the Wizard muttered, looking suspiciously at his mechanical head one more time before shaking it off. Maybe he was working too hard. He should really take a break. Or a vacation, even. He had heard that Gillikin was nice be this time of the year…

The two of them had almost reached the door when a loud, scratchy squeaking sound demanded their attention.

They both turned around slowly.

The Wizard's mechanical head had turned to the side and was staring them down now.

"Madame Morrible?" the Wizard whispered.

"Magic," she whispered in awe. "Who is there?" she called sharply, composing herself. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly, the windows flew open and a harsh wind whipped through the Throne Room. The Wizard started screaming like a girl, while Morrible just gritted her teeth and stepped towards the windows, closing them again. "I'm not going to ask you again!" she shouted. "Who is this?!"

The Wizard pointed a trembling finger at the wall. "L-Look," he whispered fearfully.

A paintbrush had randomly lifted itself, dipping into the bucket with paint that was standing on the floor; only instead of coming out a golden colour, the paintbrush glistened a bloody red. It raised itself to the wall.

_I am Ozma_, it painted on the smooth green surface.

"Ozma?" the Wizard repeated, seemingly in shock.

Morrible grunted. "The Queen of Oz," she said, annoyed with him for not knowing that important part of Ozian history. "Oz was ruled by an entire line of Ozmas before you came here, Your Ozness. Surely you knew that."

The Wizard's eyes had widened. "Oh my God," he whispered. "The previous Queen's ghost came back to haunt me!"

Morrible snorted.

_Do not mock me, Madame Morrible_, the paintbrush wrote on the wall.

Morrible froze.

"It's a ghost," the Wizard wailed, cowering in a corner.

"Of course it's not!" Morrible snapped. She moved towards the flying paintbrush, which dropped into the bucket again as Elphaba quickly focused on her powers. When Morrible stuck out a hand, it went right through the green girl without the older woman feeling anything.

Elphaba sneaked around the old hag and towards the Wizard, suddenly grabbing his ankle.

"Aaah!" he screamed, jumping up and starting to run circles around the room. "Take it away! Make it go away! Madame, make it _go_!"

"I can't!" Morrible shouted. "There's no-one here, you imbecile!"

_Then who is this? _Elphaba wrote on the wall, smirking slightly.

"You're nothing!" Morrible yelled, pointing at her. "You're just a stupid enchanted paintbrush!"

_Don't make me angry, Morrible._

"Why are you here?" the Wizard whispered, terrified. "Did you come to punish me for what I did to the Animals? I swear, I didn't really want to hurt anyone, I just _had _to – I wanted to keep my power and we needed a scapegoat and…"

Elphaba had frozen in place.

…_what I did to the Animals…_

He was responsible for what was happening to the Animals.

No. He couldn't be.

But he was.

Not only was he a fraud; he was a murderer, too.

She could feel rage building up inside of her, her entire body tingling. Lightning shot through the Throne Room and the Wizard's mechanical head burst into flames. The Wizard himself screamed again, trying to hide behind Morrible, but Elphaba dragged him from behind her and started painting words on his back.

_You will pay for what you did._

"Your Ozness!" Morrible shouted, just as the curtains caught fire. The flames quickly spread through the room and as Morrible helped the Wizard to his feet and towards the door, Elphaba decided that this was probably a good time to go.

Before she did so, however, she painted some final words on the door Morrible and the Wizard were headed to.

_I will be back._

Then she dropped the paintbrush and disappeared.

* * *

"Elphaba." Fiyero looked utterly relieved when he saw her. "Where have you been? I was afraid something had happened to you!"

She grimaced. "Um… long story."

He eyed her up and down suspiciously. Then his eyes widened. "Is that blood on your dress?"

"Paint," she corrected him. "I don't bleed, Fiyero. I'm not real, remember?"

"Paint…" He looked confused. "What in Oz did you do? You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"

"Maybe," she muttered.

He sat down across from her, taking her hands in his. "Fae, what happened?"

She sighed, shoulders slumping. "I went back to the Emerald City today," she confessed reluctantly.

Upon seeing his questioning look, she explained what had happened that morning near Suicide Canal, her losing control of her powers, and how it had given her the idea of haunting the Wizard and Morrible.

Fiyero stared at her. "You actually went into the Emerald Palace to haunt the _Wizard of Oz_?!"

She looked down. "Yeah."

He let out an incredulous laugh. "You are just… unbelievable."

She bit her lip. "Yes, I know. My father's been telling me that my entire life," she muttered.

He placed his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back so that he could look at her. "I meant that in a good way."

Her eyes were sparking with uncertainty, but she didn't say anything.

"So what did you do?" he asked her, letting go of her, and she shrugged.

"I controlled his mechanical head," she said. "Used an easy spell I've managed to finally master a few weeks ago to change the colour of a bucket of paint that was standing there to blood red. Painted some threats on the wall and on the Wizard himself. Found out that the Wizard and Morrible are responsible for the oppression of the Animals and kind of lost control of my powers. I may or may not have set the Wizard's mechanical head on fire. That's all, really."

Fiyero was grinning broadly. "I should probably tell you that this was a bad idea, that it's never good to threaten people, blah blah blah…"

"But?" she prodded, sensing there was a 'but' coming.

His grin widened. "But I think it's pretty awesome."

She smirked and curtsied. "Why, thank you."

He laughed. "Come on, let's go to bed." He went for the couch again, but her voice stopped him. "Fiyero?"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

She bit her lip. "I think you should sleep in the bed," she said. "Galinda came in twice now, and even though she didn't notice the blanket and pillows on the couch this morning, you still shouldn't take the risk. If someone finds out that you sleep on your couch every night, they're going to be asking questions."

He shrugged. "I'll make something up."

She shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't want to make this harder for you than it already is, Fiyero. I owe you so much, for letting me stay here and trying to help me, and all I do is cause you trouble. You constantly have to make up excuses because of me, about you sleeping on the couch, about you talking to yourself –"

"Hey," he cut her off, striding across the room and grabbing her arms, forcing her to look at him. "You don't cause me trouble," he told her sternly. "I'm glad I'm able to help you with anything at all. And you have no idea how grateful I am that I can talk to you, even if that is in public. I don't care if other people think I'm crazy. Especially not when the alternative is not being able to talk to you at all."

She had no idea, he realised. No idea about his feelings for her. She didn't have the faintest clue how much it would kill him if she weren't here.

"Still," was all she said, moving over to the couch. "I want you to sleep in the bed."

"But –"

"Sleep in the bed or I'm leaving," she threatened, and he sighed, giving in.

"Fine," he grumbled.

She smirked and settled down on the couch.

He watched her for a long time before finally falling asleep himself.

* * *

The next afternoon, he found himself in detention.

It really hadn't been his intention. _Hey, that rhymes,_ he thought as he lifted his pencil from the paper for a moment, chewing on the back of it. _Detention – intention. It was not my intention to end up in detention…_

But he had. And as he had feared, he was sitting in an empty classroom now – save for four other students that had to undergo the same unfortunate fate and the professor that was supposed to supervise them – and he had to stay there for three hours to work on an essay about 'why violence is not the answer to anyone's problems'.

It was true what he had told Elphaba – he hated detention. Absolutely loathed it. He would do anything to avoid it.

But some things were more important than detention, and he hadn't even known that until now.

It had happened late that morning, after his Politics class. He had been walking through the hallway and caught sight of Avaric and his friends again.

"How much?" Avaric had asked one of the other boys. "Twenty dollars on suicide? Okay, I'll write that down. You want to bet on her waking up, too? Twenty more? I know you can miss it, Alro, don't be such a miser. Two days? My, we're optimistic, aren't we? Alright, fine, I'll put it down. Hey, Fiyero, buddy! Want to bet some money, too?"

Fiyero had been gaping at the display for a short amount of time before it finally really got through to him what Avaric was doing. "You're… you're organising a pool?" he had choked out.

Avaric had nodded, smirking. "Yeah. Wanna join in, too? You can bet on the cause of the Artichoke's coma or on how long you think she's going to stay that way. Almost everyone is joining in, really. Most guys are betting suicide, but personally I'm going to stick with my own theory about the degreenifying spell. Hey, Pfannee!" he called at the girl. "Wanna play?"

She laughed. "Girls don't bet, Avaric." She pushed her current boyfriend towards Avaric. "Dearest, why don't you play, hm? If you win, you could use the money to take me out to that fancy new restaurant in town." She batted her eyelashes and the boy succumbed.

"So how do you think she ended up in that coma?" he asked Pfannee, who rolled her eyes.

"Suicide," she declared. "Definitely."

Avaric pretended to groan. "Oh, work with me here, sweetie pie! What's wrong with the degreenifying spell?"

Pfannee rolled her eyes again. "No way," she declared. "It was suicide."

Avaric sighed. "Fair enough. More money for me." He wrote it down. "And how long before she wakes up? A day? Two? A week?"

The boy looked back at Pfannee again, who inspected her nails and didn't even look up as she said, "Never. She'll probably die soon."

All this time, Fiyero had been standing there, frozen in place, completely in shock; but when he heard that, followed by Avaric's booming laugh and a smirking, "Well, I certainly _hope _you're right," Fiyero had snapped.

Quite frankly, the entire thing was a blur now. He didn't really remember what he had done. All he knew was that Pfannee and her boyfriend were in detention with him, sporting a black eye and a broken nose, respectively; and that Avaric was at the nursery and would not be released for at least another two days. Apparently Fiyero had hit the other boy hard, and he didn't feel the slightest hint of regret.

He had had to pay for it with a bruised jaw, some stitches in his forehead and a sprained wrist, not to mention the three hours of detention; but it was all worth it.

And right then, when he was sitting there pouring over an essay about the uselessness of violence, it suddenly, finally struck him.

He did everything to avoid detention, but he hadn't even thought twice about defending Elphaba. Even when she wasn't even there and didn't know about the pool. Even when he knew that he would be punished for it. He had risked getting detention for her, he had risked broken bones for her, and, he realised now, he was willing to risk so, so much more for her. Because she was worth it.

He would do anything for her.

And as certain as he suddenly knew that, as certain did he know something else. A conclusion that followed from this new train of thought.

He needed to break up with Galinda.

* * *

"Oh, Yero…" Elphaba grimaced when she placed a wet piece of cloth on his jaw, causing him to hiss in pain. "I'm sorry, but it will ease the swelling a little bit."

He nodded with a pained face. "It's okay."

She dipped another piece of cloth in the bowl with water that was resting in her lap and wrung it out, staring down at it. "I can't believe you did that for me."

"Of course I did." He winced when she started dabbing at the cut in his forehead. It was stitched up, but it still hurt. "I would do anything for you, Fae."

He froze – had he really said that out loud? – but she didn't seem to have heard it, or if she had, she hadn't realised the truth behind his words. She just continued to care for his injuries, being more gentle than he had ever seen her.

"Thank you," she said softly after a while, and he smiled – slightly crooked, because his jaw was swollen and painful on one side.

"You're welcome."

When she was finished, she gave him a few aspirins and fetched him a glass of water. "You're bound to have a headache," she said. "These will help. You should try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Don't go anywhere," he muttered.

She laughed softly, taking the empty glass back from him and setting it down on his nightstand. "I stayed so far, didn't I? Why would I leave now?"

"No…" He shook his head. "I mean… Would you stay _here_? Please?"

Now her laugh was a bit nervous. "What? In the bed with you?"

"I won't do anything weird, I promise," he said quickly. "I just… please? I feel better with you there. I've been having these nightmares lately, about you… dying, and…"

She softened, hesitated for another short moment, then nodded.

"Alright," she said. "I'll stay with you."

She went to turn off the lights, then crawled into the bed beside him – close enough for him to smell her hair and feel her body heat, but far enough away so that their bodies didn't touch. "Goodnight, Fiyero."

"Night," he muttered. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her close, but he knew that she would most definitely _not _appreciate that; and so he settled for just knowing that she was nearby and inhaling the woody scent of her hair.

He fell asleep with a small smile on his face.

* * *

**Cute little review button wants a hug!**


	5. Pained

**AN: A final update before the end of the year... (Or the first update of the new year, for some of you (HI, ELIZABETH WHO CURRENTLY LIVES IN A DIFFERENT YEAR! :D).)**

**HollyBush: I AM scary. MWAHAHAHA. :P**

**Elphaba'sGirl: That's quite alright ;).**

**Fiyeraba fluff for you in this chapter! The real kind, that is ;).**

**Okay, let's get sentimental. But first: go and vote for your favourites in the Greg Awards! I did, though I found it to be incredibly hard; and I just want to apologise to the ones among you I didn't vote for. Honestly, there are just so many great authors among you and I feel bad about not being able to vote for all of you, but there are only so many categories and I had to make choices.**

**I'll put the sentimental stuff in the AN at the end.**

* * *

**Chapter 5. Pained**

When Fiyero woke up, he was lying on his side with one arm wrapped around Elphaba, his other arm folded under his head. She was lying on her stomach next to him, her mouth hanging open slightly and her arm slung across his stomach. He smiled. She looked adorable.

The moment he moved, her eyes fluttered open as well, and she immediately shot up. "Oh! Fiyero, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to –"

"It's fine," he assured her with a small chuckle. "It's okay. Really."

She combed a few strands of hair away from her face with her fingers, blinking rapidly in an attempt to wake up a little bit more. "What time is it?"

Just then, the door flew open and Boq marched in. "Fiyero, did you forget about… oh." He faltered when he saw Fiyero still in bed. "You forgot our study appointment," he concluded.

Fiyero grimaced. "Oh. Um… yeah."

"Boq, we can totally explain why I'm in Fiyero's bed!" Elphaba cried, scrambling up, but Fiyero's hand shot out to hold her down.

"He can't see you," he hissed at her under his breath. "Remember? But he can see the sheets move, so stay still."

She did, and Fiyero quickly jumped out of his bed. "Um… give me half an hour?" he asked Boq sheepishly. "I'll meet you at the library."

Boq nodded. "Sure." Then he left again.

Elphaba breathed a sigh of relief. "Stupid," she muttered to herself. "How could I forget that you're the only one who can see me? It's been six days. I should be used to it by now."

Fiyero stayed silent, doing the maths in his head. Six days. It had already been six days. Six days since Elphaba was in that accident. She had been in that coma for _six days_.

He'd read somewhere that the moment a coma lasts longer than a week, the chances of that person waking up decrease dramatically. He didn't know if that was true, but right now the thought just kept playing through his head and he couldn't get rid of it.

"Fiyero?" He jumped when he suddenly felt Elphaba's hand on his arm, and she quickly recoiled. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." He turned around to look at her. Then he suddenly wrapped her in his arms, resting his chin on top of her head.

"I just…" He sighed. "I was just thinking that I wouldn't know what I'd do if you never woke up again," he confessed quietly.

She laughed nervously. "Fiyero, don't be dramatic."

"I'm not." He pulled away to look at her, his sapphire blue eyes sincere. "I mean it, Fae."

She blushed a little and lowered her gaze.

Fiyero cleared his throat and let go of her. "Well, I, um… I'm going to… get dressed, I guess. Find Boq for that study session… um… talk to you later?"

She nodded and flashed him a smile. "Of course."

He returned the smile before disappearing into the bathroom.

* * *

Galinda looked to the side, eyes searching her boyfriend's face. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked him.

He seemed nervous suddenly, and with a pang, she realised that her first feeling had most likely been right. It was never a good sign when your boyfriend said he had to talk to you. And this, combined with the fact that he had been so distant lately, talking to himself, acting strangely and locking himself up in his room all the time…

He sighed. "Glin…" He stopped walking and turned towards her, taking both her hands in his. "You're my girlfriend," he said. "And I like you. A lot. I care about you, but…" He trailed off.

She knew what he was going to say, and for a moment, she contemplated putting him out of his misery by telling him that it was alright; but she decided against it. It was not alright, and the least he could do was tell her that straight to her face.

He took a deep breath. "Glin, I… I don't love you," he confessed. "I never did."

She inadvertently winced, even though she had expected this.

"And I know my timing is horrible, you're already going through enough, what with what happened to Elphaba, but…" He bit his lip. "But that's also kind of the reason I'm doing this now, because… because Elphaba ending up in a coma… made me realise something."

Galinda nodded, feeling strangely calm. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next.

"I'm in love with someone else, Glin," Fiyero said quietly. "I'm in love with Elphaba."

The blonde sighed sadly. "Oh, Fifi…" She shook her head. "I should be mad at you," she said. "But… but I'm not."

And she wasn't. She was sad, yes, but she could see that he was, too. She felt sorry for him, only having recognised his feelings now that it might be too late.

"I'm sorry, Fiyero," she said, her voice trembling. "I really am."

His shoulders slumped. "Me, too, Glin."

Without saying anything, she hugged him tightly; then she let go of him and all but ran back to her dorm room, not wanting him to see the tears brimming in her eyes.

* * *

Elphaba did not show up that night.

He wasn't sure whether he had expected her to be there or not; but anyhow, he was disappointed not to see her. He stayed up until well past midnight before finally giving up and going to bed.

He didn't blame her. He knew that even in her current state, she would know what he did today –she'd told him herself that she checked up on Nessa and Galinda every day, and she was bound to have heard about the breakup of Shiz' most popular couple. He hoped she understood why he did it, but he doubted she knew the real reason; and if she didn't know the real reason, then she would probably be mad at him right now for breaking her best friend's heart like this, and at this moment in time.

He had hoped she would at least be willing to hear his side of the story, no matter how pissed she was, but it seemed that she wouldn't give him even that. Or maybe she just wanted to stay in Galinda's dorm room for tonight to make sure the blonde girl was okay. Either way, he missed her, and he hoped she would show up again soon.

When he didn't see her at all the next day and didn't show up at night, either, he started to grow worried.

When there was still no sign of her the day after that, he downright panicked. What if she wasn't not showing up because she was angry? What if something else had happened? What if her spirit-ghost-soul-whatever form had disappeared for one reason or another?

What if she had died?

So he ran over to the hospital, only to find her body there, still attached to a dozen tubes and machines, still in a coma, but still breathing. Her other self wasn't there, though.

Or so he thought.

Elphaba watched from behind the curtain as he sat down on the edge of the bed and took her limp, green hand in his, softly brushing his thumb over the back of it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and she was a little shocked to see that there were actual tears in his eyes. "I didn't want to hurt her, I really didn't, but I just couldn't lead her on like that anymore. Or you." He sighed. "It just wasn't fair."

He reached out with his other hand to smooth her hair back, running his fingers through the ebony strands. "Please come back," he whispered. "Please wake up, Fae… Please. I need you." He rested his forehead against their joined hands. "At the very least, I wish I could talk to you again," he said, his voice breaking. "It's been two days, and I know you could just be mad at me for hurting Galinda, but… but I'm so scared that something happened to you, Fae. That I'll never be able talk to you again… I miss you. You have no idea how much I miss you right now."

Her heart broke. She hadn't even thought about the possibility that he might worry about her; she had just been angry with him for hurting Galinda and for picking a time like this one, when the blonde girl was already going through so much. She'd spent hours in Galinda's dorm room, having to watch helplessly as the blonde cried into her pillow, smashed her hairbrush across the room, shrieked and then broke down again, using dozens of tissues to dry her tears while new ones were already welling up in her eyes. After a day, Galinda had calmed down slightly; but Elphaba hadn't wanted to leave her alone again, and she most certainly did not want to face Fiyero after what he had done to her best friend.

In between her visits to Galinda, she had vented her own anger by going back to the Throne Room in the Emerald City and scaring the living daylights out of the Wizard and Morrible, allowing her powers to fly out of control completely, fuelled by the frustration and helplessness she was feeling when it came to her first real friend.

Now, watching Fiyero as he was crying over her comatose body, she felt guilty. He had been punished enough; to keep on avoiding him would just be plain mean, and she wasn't mean. Just angry. But she could forgive him. If Galinda could, then so could she.

She was about to come forward from her hiding place when Fiyero did something that completely startled and shocked her.

He rose to his feet, leant down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"I love you," he whispered.

She made a strange, jerky movement, causing the vase standing in the window sill to wobble and then fall to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces. She winced at the noise and Fiyero looked up immediately. "Who's there?" he demanded in a slightly higher voice than usual.

She stepped forward.

Immediately, relief flooded his face. "Fae!" He approached her, clearly wanting to hug her or something, but she kept him away by holding up one hand.

"First off," she said, glad to find that her voice was stern and steady, "I'm pissed at you. No, not pissed. Furious. What you did to Galinda is unacceptable and you know it. It was like kicking a puppy that was already nearly beaten to death."

He winced. "I know," he said, hanging his head. "And I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt her, I swear I didn't, but I… I had to."

"Why?"

He looked up at her again, hesitant now. "For how long have you been standing there, exactly?"

She crossed her arms. "Long enough," was all she said.

He nodded slowly. He hadn't really wanted her to find out like this, but at the same time he was relieved that she knew. At least he didn't have to hide his feelings from her anymore.

"Then you know why," he said.

Now it was her turn to look down. She was studying the hospital floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I didn't even realise it until you ended up in that coma," he went on quietly, slowly approaching her. "But it's true. I don't love Galinda. I never did."

Elphaba made a choked sound. "Fiyero…"

"I love you."

She stared at him for a moment.

Then she disappeared.

* * *

He returned to his dorm room late at night, hands in his pockets, head down. He had waited at the hospital in case she would come back, but she didn't. Then he had gone back to Shiz to see if he could find her anywhere – the park, Suicide Canal, the library – but he didn't see her. At all. By the time he re-entered the boys' dorm, he was deflated, cold and hungry.

He pushed the door shut behind him and dropped his bag, shuffling into his bedroom as he shrugged off his cloak and hung it over the back of a chair. When he turned back, however, he started.

"Fae?"

She was sitting on his bed, legs crossed, fingers fidgeting with the hem of her dress. "Hey."

"Oz, Elphaba!" He stomped over towards her, not sure if he wanted to hug her or shake her. "Where did you go? I searched everywhere for you!"

She bit her lip, looking away. "I just… needed some time to think," she said softly.

He sighed and sank down into an arm chair opposite her. "Well, could you… I don't know… _not _disappear on me like that, next time? I was worried sick, I thought you… I don't know. Just… just don't do that again, okay?"

"Okay." She finally looked up at him. "Fiyero…"

"I'll explain," he said softly. "If you let me."

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and he shifted a little to take her hands in his. "Fae… I'm sure you remember that we hated each other at first."

She rolled her eyes. "How could I forget?"

"But then after Galinda introduced us at the OzDust, and we started spending more time together… I started to like you. I was glad that we became friends."

She looked down. "Me, too," she admitted softly.

He sighed. "And that was enough for me," he said quietly. "Until the day we rescued that Lion Cub together. And after that… everything changed, Fae. For me, at least. Because… because I fell in love with you that day, only I couldn't do anything about it because I thought you didn't love me back and you were Galinda's best friend and it would kill her if I broke up with her to be with you, and I didn't even know if you wanted me, and I didn't want to cause a break between you and Galinda because you didn't even know –"

"Fiyero," Elphaba cut him off in exasperation. "You made sense up until 'I fell in love with you that day'."

"Sorry." He exhaled. "I'm rambling. My main point is, Elphaba, that I love you."

She shook her head. "Like I said, that's the part that doesn't make sense."

He stared at her intently. "Fae. Just listen."

She kept quiet.

"I love you," he said, looking into her eyes. "I'm sure of it now. And I didn't want you to find out about that through hearing me talking to your unconscious body, but that doesn't make it any less true and quite frankly, I'm glad you know now, because it was getting harder and harder for me to keep it in. It's why I broke up with Galinda, Fae. I told her about it, too. She knows that I broke it off with her because she's not the one I love. You are."

"But…" She looked so flabbergasted that he almost started feeling sorry for her. "But… you can't," she protested weakly.

"Why not?" he wanted to know.

She stared at him as if he had gone crazy. "Why not?" she echoed. "Do you want a list?" She started counting on her fingers. "I'm green. I'm the school outcast. Nobody likes me. I'm in a coma and no-one knows if I'll ever wake up again. I'm green. I'm sarcastic. I have creepy magical powers. I'm green. I'm ugly. I'm unlovable. I'm a know-it-all. Oh, and did I mention the fact that I am _green_?"

"I don't care about the green." He gripped her hands a little tighter. "You're beautiful. And the coma… you're right, my timing is kind of crappy, but how was I supposed to know this would happen? And right now I'm just… I feel like I have to tell you now or… or it might be too late."

She softened a little at that. "Fiyero…"

"Please? Fae…" He took a deep breath. "If you don't feel the same way about me, that's fine," he said. "But… but I just need you to know."

She opened her mouth. Then she closed it again and she looked down at their entwined fingers. "I…" She swallowed. "I think… I like you, too, Fiyero. A lot. I mean, when we saved that Lion Cub…" She faltered, then said softly, "I fell in love with you, too, that day."

Slowly, a broad, radiant grin spread across his face. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes. But Yero, I… we… we can't." She pulled her hands back. "You shouldn't do this," she tried to explain when she saw his face fall. "Fiyero, it's not that I don't _want _to. I swear it's not. But… But I'm _me_, and… and I'm not even really here. I might never wake up again, and that's a fact I think you and I both should face. You need to find someone else, Yero. Someone who is not green, awkward and strange, and someone who is actually_ alive_."

"You're alive," he insisted, but she just gave him a look.

"You know what I mean, Yero."

"You're alive to me," he said, taking her hand again. She didn't pull away this time. "You always will be."

She didn't even call him cheesy, which he decided to take as a sign that she was seriously thinking about this.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked her.

She stared at him.

"Please?" he added, even as he was leaning forward. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, which she allowed, her eyes slowly fluttering shut as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"I don't understand," she whispered, opening her eyes again. "I haven't got the faintest clue as to how you could possibly love me."

"Honestly?" he whispered back. "I never thought I would one day love anyone at all. You changed that, Fae. You changed _me_. There was a time when my life goal was to seduce as many girls as possible, but that's not me anymore. There's only one girl I want and she's right here in front of me."

With those words, he leant forward and pressed his lips against hers.

* * *

**Now for the sentimental End Of The Old Year Speech. (Feel free to skip it if you want to.)**

**I just want to take a moment to thank all of you guys for reading my stories. Some of you (ComingAndGoingByBubble, Fae the Queen, Stephanie...) have been there from the very beginning; others (Elizabeth, Xanne-Li...) started reading my stories later on, but have been the most wonderful reviewers _and _friends ever since. **

**I met so many great people on here, and you have all been so amazing in boosting my confidence when it comes to writing and making me feel like I'm actually _good _at doing this thing I so love. If I ever get an original story published, it will be thanks to you guys, and I will never forget you.**

**2013 was the year in which I discovered Fanfiction, saw two oh so amazing Wicked shows and saw two Sister Act shows and one Flashdance one. It was the year in which I visited Italy and Venice for the first time ever, met Elizabeth and Xanne-Li, and joined the Verkaikings (officially, that is); and it was my first year with a driver's license.**

**It's also the year in which we experienced the first birthday of my grandmother without her actually being there; the year in which I had a wisdom tooth pulled and experienced an awful lot of knee problems; the year in which I had doubts, so many doubts, especially about my study, but about other things (jobs and boyfriends - or, really, the lack thereof) as well.**

**2014, hopefully, will be the year in which I publish my first book. The year in which I will see Sister Act a third time, Flashdance a second, and go to an amazing cabaret show and a concert. Hopefully the year in which I will finally meet Steph and the Verkaikings in real life, go to London to see Wicked again with them and fangirl all together. Maybe the year in which I'll start writing a blog (because I think that would be fun), and probably the year in which I will get my bachelor's degree in Psychology.**

**But most importantly, it will be the year in which I will continue to read and write fanfiction and stay in touch with all the wonderful people I got to know on here.**

**That being said... a very happy new year to all of you. May it be an amazing one, a Wicked one, one filled with love and happiness, and may it be the year in which all your dreams will come true :).**


	6. Loved

**AN: Hi guys! Welcome to the new year! :)**

**Best way to ring in 2014 - I'm not kidding, this actually happened like this. We were outside just after midnight, watching other people's fireworks (there's this family in our street that always spends a lot of money on it and they have the most beautiful things). Suddenly my Mum says, "Look over there! That's beautiful! Pink and green fireworks combined - you don't see that often!"**

**I was grinning like an idiot :D. I think it's a sign that this year will be positively Wicked!**

**I'm glad you all liked my sentimental speech :P and if you want more of it... I decided to start the new year by creating a blog! It will be about my fanfics, but also about my life in general, musings of my mind, and of course it will include updates on how my original story is coming along, which I'm hoping to get published somewhere this year! The link is this:**

**queenofcliffies**

**dot**

**blogspot**

**dot**

**nl**

**(sorry for that, but otherwise FF blocks it :3)**

**and I would love for you to check it out and/or follow! :)**

**That being said, thank you so much for your lovely reviews! You will be rewarded with fluff. This chapter. Lots of it. Yay!**

**Last but not least, I created a new poll. It's on my profile and it's basically the same one as before, only asking about your favourite one-shots instead of multichaps. Feel free to check that out as well ^_^.**

* * *

**Chapter 6. Loved**

Even after he pulled away, she just couldn't stop staring at him.

He coughed and shifted a bit nervously. "Fae?"

She blinked a few times, fingers coming up to touch her lips in wonder. She had never expected to be kissed at all… but to get her first kiss from none other than Fiyero Tiggular? That was beyond her wildest imaginations.

Far beyond.

"I'm sorry," Fiyero said, dropping his gaze. "I shouldn't have done that. I mean… Could you just say something? Anything? Slap me across the face if you have to? Because quite frankly, a quiet Elphaba is even scarier than an angry one."

She chuckled softly at that. "No, I… I just never expected to ever be kissed," she admitted, lowering her gaze. "Least of all by you."

He looked shocked. "You mean… Surely you've been kissed before?" he asked, baffled.

She shook her head. "Look at me, Fiyero," she said softly, but without any trace of self-pity. "Who would ever want to kiss me?"

"Me. Obviously." Suddenly he looked panicked. "But… but I didn't even wait for you to answer when I asked if I could kiss you! Now I stole your first kiss against your will! Oh my Oz, Fae, I'm so sorry –"

She cut him off by pressing her finger to his lips.

"I wouldn't have wanted it from anyone but you," she whispered, a dark red colour creeping up into her cheeks, but she smiled when she saw the grin that lit up his face again.

"Really?"

She nodded, still blushing. He shifted closer to her. "So I gave you your first kiss," he mumbled.

She nodded again.

"Can I give you your second, too?"

Normally, she would have scoffed at how cheesy he was being; but right now she just didn't care. Instead, she just nodded again and she closed her eyes when his lips touched hers again, a bit firmer now than the first time. He laced the fingers of his one hand with hers, while his other hand came around her to press against her back, pulling her closer, and she allowed herself to melt into the kiss.

When they finally broke apart again, he rested his forehead against hers, looking deep into her eyes. "I love you," he breathed.

She blinked a few times, still not really believing that this was happening, but she replied nonetheless. "I love you, too, Yero."

He kissed her again, slowly lowering her onto the bed. For a brief moment, she thought he wanted to take this to the next level, and she panicked a little. She wasn't ready for that. She had received her first kiss only moments ago – not to mention the fact that she still wasn't convinced that he really did love her; or the fact that she was sure he would run away in disgust when he saw her in all her green glory, not disguised by any clothes; or, she reminded herself, the fact that she wasn't even really here.

But instead of pinning her down or trying to remove her clothes, he just sat down beside her, pulling the blanket over her and tucking her in, pressing a sweet kiss to her forehead. "'Night, Fae."

"You don't have to go," she said without thinking; but even when she did think about it, she realised she didn't want to take it back. "I mean… you can sleep here, if you want."

He looked hesitant. "Are you sure? I don't want to pressure you or anything…"

She shook her head. "You're not."

He nodded and lay down beside her, crawling under the blankets as well. She scooted over a little to make room for him as he squirmed, trying to make himself comfortable beside her without touching her. When his hand accidentally brushed her hip, he immediately yanked it back. "I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Fiyero, don't be ridiculous."

"But –"

"I would tell you if I didn't want you to touch me," she told him. "Or if there was anything else you were doing wrong, or if I was feeling pressured. You don't have to treat me like I'm made of sugar, Fiyero. I'm not."

"I know," he said as he leant up on one elbow and looked down at her, that soft look in his sapphire eyes that always melted her. "But I know you're new at this, and I'm going to assume you don't share your bed with a boy on a regular basis…"

She snorted a laugh. "Not really, no."

"…so I just want to be careful with you," he finished.

"I appreciate that," she said softly. "I really do. But you don't have to be."

He nodded. "Okay. Good to know." He kissed her again softly before settling down next to her. Their shoulders and legs touched lightly, but she could tell that he was still afraid to impose himself on her.

She rolled her eyes and, deciding to be bold, cuddled up against him, her head on his chest and her legs tangled with his. He stared at her for a few moments and she looked back up at him, doubt in her own eyes now.

"If you don't want…" she began anxiously, but he cut her off by pressing yet another kiss to her lips.

"I love you," he whispered, wrapping his arm around her, and that settled it.

She curled into his embrace, closing her eyes. If this was a dream, she wanted to enjoy it for as long as she possibly could.

* * *

When she opened her eyes the next morning, however, he was still there.

He appeared to be asleep; but when she moved, trying to scoot away from him a little, his arm tightened around her and he pulled her back. "Stay here."

"Well, good morning to you, too," she said, trying to sound sarcastic, but it sounded more… teasing. In a flirty kind of way. What in Oz was happening to her?

Fiyero smiled, though he still hadn't opened his eyes. "Good morning," he mumbled. "You're not a dream, are you?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I mean, if I open my eyes, will you still be there?"

"You're just going to have to try and see for yourself," she said with a broad grin.

He opened his eyes.

She wasn't there.

He was awake in an instant. "Fae?" He sat up, alarmed, hands groping at the sheets as if she might be hiding underneath them. He looked around in bewilderment, searching for her frantically.

Elphaba smirked at him from the spot she had transported herself to, on the other side of the bed. "Your face right now is epic."

He whirled around to face her, relief flooding his eyes. "Okay, you had me there," he confessed. "Sweet Oz, you scared the wits out of me."

She chuckled and snuggled into his side again – his other side this time. "Yes, well, that's what you get when you're dating a spirit-ghost-soul-thingy. Even more creepy magic tricks than usual."

He kissed her forehead. "I love you."

She melted instantly, a soft smile gracing her lips. "I love you, too."

He trailed his lips down her temple and her cheek until they touched her own lips, and he kissed her softly. "I can't believe this is finally happening," he whispered. "I've been dreaming of this for so long, but I… well, honestly, I never thought you could feel the same way about me. And then there was Galinda to worry about…"

Elphaba shot up. "Oh, Oz, Galinda! Fiyero, we can't do this to her! She's heartbroken, and –"

"Fae," he cut her off, pulling her down again. "Glin already knows, remember? I won't say she's _fine _with it, because… because I know she loved me, and I hurt her… a lot… but she'll get over it. I know she will."

"But –"

"And besides, she can't see you. She doesn't know I can, either. She doesn't know about us."

Elphaba sighed. "Fiyero, just because she can't see me, doesn't mean we can do whatever we want. She's my best friend… I don't want to hurt her."

He cradled her face between his hands and kissed her softly. "It'll be alright, Fae. I promise."

She just sighed again, but gave in, relaxing as he pulled her closer again and nuzzled her hair.

"Don't you have any classes to go to?" she murmured after a while.

He shook his head. "Nah. I'd much rather stay here." He ran his fingers through her long, silky hair, playing with the strands and twirling them around his fingers.

She looked up at him, dark eyes piercing. "Fiyero, just because you're crazy enough to be in love with me, does _not _mean you get to skip your classes," she said sternly.

He leant down to kiss her. "Yes, Mummy."

"Calling me 'Mummy' while kissing me is a little bit weird, don't you think? Disturbing, even."

Fiyero grimaced. "Oz, Fae!"

She cackled. He just pulled her closer again and buried his face in her hair. "You're not my mother, though," he mumbled. "You can't make me go to class. I'm just going to stay right here with you all day."

His eyes flew open when suddenly his fingers were only grasping air. He heard her cackle again, this time from the other side of the room. "Sorry, Yero," she said as she tossed him his clothes, "but if there's no other way to get you out of bed, then this will have to do."

"Hey!" he protested, reaching for her. "Get back here, you!"

She stuck out her tongue. "I'm going to stir things up a little more in the Emerald City," she said, waving at him. "I'll see you tonight. Good luck with that Economics test you have today!" She blew him a kiss and tossed her hair, mimicking Galinda, before she disappeared.

He blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, staring at the spot where she had been a moment ago. Then her words dawned on him.

"Wait!" he cried, as if she could still hear him. "I have an Economics test?!"

* * *

"The Wizard is gone!"

Fiyero whirled around. "What?"

Boq blinked at him. "I didn't say anything."

"No, I wasn't talking to…" Fiyero trailed off when he realised that Boq was the _only _other person in the room – the only other person everyone could see, anyway. He cleared his throat. "Um… I need to use the bathroom."

"_Again_?" Boq asked him irritably. "You just went fifteen minutes ago!"

"I have a tiny bladder!" he called back over his shoulder as he hurried out of the library and into the hallway.

"A tiny bladder?" Elphaba echoed as she followed him, clearly amused. "Is that all you could come up with?"

"Can you just please stop sneaking up on me like that?" he begged her. "Boq is going to think I lost my mind!"

Elphaba smirked. "Don't worry, he already thinks that. What I was saying, though, is that the Wizard is gone. Can you believe that? I actually managed to chase away the Wizard of Oz!"

Fiyero blinked. "What?"

Elphaba nodded, a smug grin on her face. "I went back today," she said. "To the Palace. And the Wizard said he's had enough of it. Or, well, he didn't actually _say _that – he kind of… screeched it. In a Galinda kind of way. He actually believed Ozma was haunting him because of everything he has done to the people of Oz." She sniggered. "And just now, he said he's giving up. He ordered some servants to blow up his hot air balloon and he's leaving Oz for good."

Fiyero gaped at her. "Really?"

She shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I hope so. If he left… that would be amazing."

Fiyero shook his head. "Fae…"

"Oh, I know," she cut him off. "But Fiyero, they're the ones that hurt the Animals. All the Wizard has ever done since he got power is deceive the people and hurt the minorities in Oz. We can't let him go on with that! Or at least, _I _can't. And if I scared him to the point that he decided to leave Oz, well, then I'm glad. That only leaves Morrible. She'll be harder to scare, but I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off somehow."

He sighed. "I know you can't let them go on like this," he said. "And that's what I admire in you, Fae – the way you're so passionate about everything and stand up for what you believe in. But these are the rulers of Oz we're talking about. Who is going to take over once they're gone? Not to mention the fact that Morrible is very smart, and she's a sorceress – what if she finds out what you're doing? What if she decides to strike back?"

"She won't. She doesn't even know it's me." Elphaba shrugged. "That's the advantage I have now, Yero. No-one but you can see me."

"I know." He looked a little pained. "Just… please be careful," he begged her.

She leant forward to kiss him briefly. "Always."

He raised an eyebrow. She stuck out her tongue.

"Now you go back to Boq," she said, waving him away. "I don't want to waste your precious study time."

He groaned. "What are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "Check up on Galinda," she said softly. "And Nessa."

He squeezed her shoulder briefly and was rewarded with a small smile before she disappeared.


	7. Distressed

**AN: This one's kind of sad. Don't worry, not the Fiyero-or-Elphaba-almost-dies-and-or-tries-to-leave-the-other-sad. Not yet, anyway *smirk*.**

**Woodland59: I know what you mean, but there's still Morrible, of course... ^_^**

**Musicgal3: I'm glad I could make you feel better :D. The tiny-bladder thing? That's actually me. I _always _need to use the bathroom. Always. Ask my friends, they always laugh at me :P.**

**So some fluff, more fluff next chapter... but also some more not-so-very-nice things.**

* * *

**Chapter 7. Distressed**

"Nessa? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Nessa smiled sadly as she wheeled herself away from the door. "Of course."

Elphaba didn't think it strange that Nessa and Galinda were searching each other out right now. They had never been particularly close; but right now they felt connected by their grief about their sister and best friend. They only had each other.

Of course there was Boq, but he was rather awkward when it came to comforting people – especially crying girls – and he tried to avoid the subject of Elphaba's current condition as much as he possibly could, as Elphaba had noticed in the past week or so.

And then there was Fiyero, whom would normally be the first person Galinda would talk to about her feelings; but after the break-up, Elphaba knew the blonde couldn't talk to him like that just yet. She was still hurt and even though she firmly claimed that she didn't blame him for anything, she didn't feel ready to share her feelings with him again, either. That, and the fact that he preferred to be on his own these days, staying in his room or going to the hospital whenever he had some free time, was why Galinda didn't seek comfort with him now.

Despite everything, Elphaba was glad to see that the two girls had grown so close ever since her accident. It was good to know that they looked after each other, that they both had someone to talk to and cry with if need be. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that should this end badly for her, at least Galinda and Nessa would take care of each other.

Galinda went inside and closed the door behind her. She sat down on Nessa's bed, right next to where Elphaba was sitting, and sighed. "Nessa, how are you doing?"

The younger girl shrugged, looking down. "Holding up, I guess."

Galinda forced a smile. "Yeah. Me too."

Elphaba looked at them both, feeling guilty even though she knew it wasn't her fault. "I wish you two could see me," she said softly, reaching for Galinda, but not touching her. She looked at her sister, wishing she could help her somehow. Nessa looked so sad… she never really thought her sister cared this much about her. Of course she knew that Nessa cared in some way, but she hadn't expected it to go this deep.

"Father doesn't even care," Nessa said in a choked voice. "He doesn't even ask how she is, if she has gotten any better. I never really realised how he treated her until now… I just don't believe it – Fabala is his daughter, too, but he acts like she's nothing but a burden!"

Galinda moved to rub Nessa's back comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Nessa."

Nessa sniffled. "I just… I miss her," she confessed. "And I want Father to be here right now, both for her and for me, but he just doesn't care, and… that hurts." She shook her head, biting her lip and changing the subject in an attempt to give herself some time to compose herself. "What about you, though? What with Fiyero, and all? Are you okay?" she asked.

Galinda sighed and shrugged. "I don't know," she said softly. "It's a horrible time for him to break up with me, but I… I understand, I guess. I wish Elphie could know about him being in love with her. She deserves to be loved, and… and they were good friends, maybe she could love him back… maybe it would've worked out… I'd love to see that happening for her." She sighed again. "I wish I could still tell her how much _I_ love her," she whispered, "and that she's the bestest friend I could have wished for. She's like the sister I never had, and…" She sniffled. "And I just miss her so much!"

It broke Elphaba's heart to have to watch her best friend break down after that, her little sister crying as well as she tried to comfort the blonde. They eventually ended up hugging each other, both of them with tears streaming down their faces.

Elphaba was crying, too, wishing more than ever that she could let them know somehow that she was still here, that she wasn't gone yet, that she loved them, too. She didn't want them to cry over her. All she wanted for them was to be happy.

"I'm sorry, Nessa," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. Glin…"

"Do you…" Nessa swallowed. "Do you want to pray together?" she whispered.

Elphaba knew that Galinda wasn't very religious, but the blonde agreed nonetheless and placed both her hands in Nessa's, squeezing them tightly.

Elphaba, unable to watch them any longer, closed her eyes and pictured herself in Fiyero's room.

She was immensely relieved when she found that he had already returned – she just needed him right now.

The moment he turned around and saw her, tear streaks still on her face, his face twisted into that concerned look that always made her cry – all over again, in this case. She flung herself at him and sobbed into his shoulder, clinging to him tightly as he held her in his arms. "Fae, sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked her anxiously. "Please talk to me. You're scaring me."

"Fiyero?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "If – if I don't make it…"

His grip on her tightened. "Don't talk like that."

"Just…" She choked on a sob. "Just tell Nessie I'm sorry, and… and that I love her… and tell Galinda she's the best and only friend I've ever had, and that I love her, too… and ask her to keep an eye on Nessa for me… please?"

"Fae." He tilted her chin up, looking into her chocolate brown, tear-filled eyes. "You'll be okay," he whispered. "You can tell them all that yourself."

She shook her head fervently. "Just… just promise me, Fiyero," she begged him, still in tears. "Please."

Unable to say no to her – and knowing that she might be right – he nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I promise."

She buried her face in his chest, still crying.

"But…" Fiyero suddenly had an idea, which was very rare for him. He thought it was a pretty good one, too, which was even more uncommon. "But maybe you could tell them now."

She raised her tear-stained face from his shoulder to look at him and sniffled. "What?"

"What if we tell them?" Fiyero suggested. "That you're still here? That I can see you?"

She let out a hollow laugh. "Fiyero, they'd never believe you."

"They could ask me things," he said. "Things only you could know. You could even talk to them all by yourself – you can write something down on a paper. If it works with paint and a wall at the Emerald Palace with Morrible and the Wizard, then I'm sure we can make it work like this, too." He stroked her hair. "Just think about it, Fae," he said softly. "I know there's a chance they'll just think I'm crazy, but I don't care. I know what they're going through. I know how much pain they're feeling, because I felt it, too, those first few days. It's been nine days now, Fae. It would help them a lot, and I think it would help you, too." He softly rubbed her back. "I can't stand seeing you like this."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leant her head back against his shoulder. "Maybe," she whispered. She looked up at him. "Do you really think they would believe you?" she asked him almost hopefully.

He nodded, if only to reassure her. "I'm positive."

She sniffled, but nodded, too. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

He planted a kiss on the top of her head. "We'll go and see them in the morning."

* * *

Elphaba slept fitfully that night, whimpering and crying out in her sleep, waking up with tears streaming down her face. Fiyero was there every time, holding her close and whispering comforting words in her ear until she calmed down a little.

"I wish it could be like this forever," she whispered at some point in the middle of the night. She was tucked with her back against Fiyero's chest and his arms around her, holding her close to him, his chin on her shoulder.

"I mean…" She turned her head a little to look at him. "I mean us," she clarified. "I just…" She shifted a little. "Fiyero… I was at the hospital the other day," she whispered. "They said…" She swallowed. "They said there's no improvement whatsoever in my condition."

His grip on her tightened. "That doesn't mean anything," he insisted. "You can still wake up, Fae. You'll be –"

"Don't say 'fine'," she warned him. "Yero…" She closed her eyes for a moment. Then she whispered, "If my condition doesn't improve soon, they're going to have to let me go."

He was startled. "What?"

"Pull the plug," she said bluntly. "Get me off all those machines that are keeping me alive. They can't keep every comatose patient in there forever, and if there's no indication that I might ever wake up again, there's no need for them to keep me. My… My father would have to sign the papers."

They both knew what that meant. Frex wouldn't want to keep paying the hospital for keeping his daughter alive. No matter how harsh it sounded and how hard it was for Fiyero to believe, Frex really didn't care one bit about his green daughter.

"He'd be glad to see me die," Elphaba said bitterly. "He'd sign those papers in a heartbeat."

"But…" Fiyero's breathing quickened. "He can't just…"

"Yes, he can." Elphaba turned around in his arms, looking into his eyes. "Yero… I'm going to say goodbye to Glin and Nessie tomorrow," she said softly. "Just in case. But you..." She brought her hand up to cup his cheek, brushing her thumb across his jaw line. "You… You know I love you, don't you?"

He nodded, unable to speak as his eyes filled with tears, and she leant up to kiss his lips softly. "I'm not saying I'm going down without a fight," she assured him quietly. "Never. But just in case, I… I just want you to know that I love you, but if I don't make it, I just want you to be happy. Find someone else. Get married, have a family, become King of the Vinkus… I know you can do all that – you're smarter than you let on, Fiyero, and you're caring and sweet and protective… you'll make it. You'll be a wonderful husband and father… and king… someday."

"I don't want to be a husband or a father," he whispered brokenly. "Or a king. Not unless I'm _your _husband, the father of _your _children, and have _you _by my side as my queen." He only realised how true that was when the words had already left his lips.

She burrowed into his chest, closing her eyes to prevent her tears from falling. "I'm not dead yet," she whispered. "There's still a chance…" She trailed off.

He pressed her closer, one hand on her back, the other running through her soft, silky hair. "There is," he confirmed, his voice choked. "I love you, Fae."

"Love you, too." She kissed him again.

He watched her as she fell back into another light, fitful sleep, holding her tightly as if that way he could prevent her from going anywhere.

* * *

"Glin, Nessa, there's no good way to tell you this, so…" Fiyero took a deep breath and looked at the two girls opposite him. "I can see Elphaba's ghost-spirit-soul-thingy."

"Smooth," the green girl in question said sarcastically. "Subtle. So much tact. They're not thinking you're crazy at all."

He scowled at her, but when he looked back at Nessa and Galinda, he realised that Elphaba was right. They exchanged a look that clearly told him they felt sorry for him and thought he had completely lost it now.

"Fiyero," Nessa began carefully, but he cut her off.

"I know," he said. "I _know _this sounds crazy, but honestly, it's true. I discovered that I could see her a few days after she had ended up in that coma, and we've been talking ever since. She actually spent the nights in my room."

Elphaba cringed. "Just when I thought you couldn't be any more tactless," she muttered in a pained voice. "Now all you have to do is tell your ex-girlfriend that you're in a relationship with her comatose best friend and you score even more points on tactlessness."

He sighed. "Okay, you're right. I'm not saying this right."

"Let's just skip straight to the part where they ask me questions only I could know the answer to," Elphaba suggested.

Fiyero looked at the two girls again. "Okay," he said. "Let's do that again. I can see Elphaba. Her ghost, soul, whatever, is still around, and I can see her, touch her and talk to her. She's here right now. Ask me questions only she could know the answer to if you don't believe me."

Nessa sighed. "Fiyero, there is no such thing as a ghost and people's souls don't just wander around in Oz. The Unnamed God –"

"What does she keep under her pillow?" Galinda asked, interrupting the other girl.

"My mother's green glass bottle," Elphaba answered, which Fiyero repeated.

Galinda started circling around Fiyero like a predator circling its prey. "When did I first tell her she was beautiful?"

"On the night of the OzDust dance," Fiyero said. "Right after you two first became friends and you gave her a makeover."

"How did our mother die?" Nessa asked quietly.

Fiyero looked to the side, and Elphaba lowered her eyes.

"I don't believe that," Fiyero said firmly upon hearing her reply.

"It's true," Elphaba mumbled, turning away from him.

"What? What's she saying?" Nessa asked him, clearly starting to believe him dsepite everything.

He turned back to face her. "She says 'because of me'."

Nessa's eyes filled with tears. "Fa-Fabala?" she whispered incredulously, her mind telling her this wasn't possible, but she knew this would have been Elphaba's answer to that particular question. Fiyero wouldn't have made that up.

"See for yourself," Fiyero said, getting another idea. "Fae, push Nessa's chair to the desk."

"What am I, an obedient little lap dog?" Elphaba grumbled, but she did as he asked, gripping the chair and pushing it forward. Nessa gasped as she suddenly found herself moving across the room, ending up in front of the desk. There, a pencil and paper were lifted out of nowhere and the pencil started to write on the paper.

_Nessie, I love you so much. Don't ever forget that. I'm sorry. I don't know what's going to happen, but all I ever wanted was for you to be happy._

Nessa was full-on crying now. "Oh my Oz…"

Elphaba was crying, too, and Fiyero wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her close for a moment.

"Thank you," she said to him, her voice trembling. "This really was a good idea, Yero. I want to say goodbye to them myself."

He smiled and squeezed her shoulders again. "Write one for Glin."

She did, and she brought the note over to her best friend – who blanched visibly upon seeing the piece of paper floating through the air.

_Glin, you're the best and only friend I've ever had. I love you. If I don't make it… please take care of Nessa for me?_

Now all three girls were crying, and Fiyero found his own eyes suspiciously wet, too.

"I will, Elphie," Galinda whispered. "I promise. But it won't be necessary. You'll be fine again."

_I hope so._

"Fiyero?" Nessa whispered. "How… How is this possible?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Honestly, Nessa? I have no idea. I just… I'm the only one who can see her and I don't know why that is."

"Does… Does she know?" Galinda whispered. "About… you know… the reason you broke up with me?"

Fiyero closed his eyes, not wanting to lie to her. "Yes."

"How did she take it?"

"Don't say it, Fiyero," Elphaba begged him. "It would kill her!"

"We're…" Fiyero wanted to listen to her, but at the same time, he felt like Galinda deserved the truth. "I told her a few days ago," he said softly. "She… She loves me, too. We're kind of... together."

"Fiyero!" Elphaba cried, but Galinda just smiled despite her tears.

"Good," she whispered. "At least you still have that. If something happens…" She shook her head.

"Glin, I'm so sorry," Elphaba whispered.

"She says she's sorry," Fiyero translated. "And so am I, Glin. Really. We never meant –"

"Oh, shut up. Both of you." Galinda planted one hand on her hip. "Elphie, especially you. You have nothing to apologise for. You're my best friend and you deserve to be happy, and if you think you can be that with Fiyero, then I'm happy for you. And Fifi… I'm not really mad at you, either. You can't help who you fall in love with, after all." She cracked a small smile. "And Elphie is the sweetest person ever… once you get past the sarcasm and all."

Fiyero chuckled softly. "Believe me, Glin. I know."

Galinda smiled sadly. "Good." Suddenly her eyes widened. "Wait a clock-tick," she breathed. "That thing I read in the newspaper the other day. About the Wizard believing he was being haunted by a past Ozma."

Elphaba grimaced.

"Elphaba went there one day," Fiyero explained. "She discovered that the Wizard is a fraud and that he's the one behind the Animal Banns. He's the one that's having them arrested, he invented the cages, and he doesn't have any magical powers at all."

Nessa paled. "Oh, sweet Oz!"

"So she went to haunt him?" Galinda shook her head. "Oh, Elphie."

"Wait." Nessa looked at Fiyero hopefully, having realised something. "If she can push my chair and hold a pencil, does that mean I can touch her?"

In reply, Elphaba slipped her fingers into her sisters' and squeezed them.

Immediately, Nessa's eyes filled with tears again. She sniffled. "Fabala…"

"She thinks it's because of her magic," Fiyero said quietly. "That she can touch things, I mean."

"She can't get back into her body?" Galinda asked, and Fiyero shook his head.

"She doesn't know how."

"Elphie…" Galinda spread her arms. "Hug me?"

Elphaba smiled and wrapped her arms around the blonde, and Galinda gasped when she felt that.

Then she started crying as well.


	8. Discovered

**AN: Yes, I get it. Sad, sweet, please don't kill Elphaba. I'll just say that I'm not going to make any promises *smirk*.**

**Musicgal3: ...like I said, no promises :3. But kudos for pointing out my favourite lines again :D.**

**Just want to say again how much I appreciate all your votes in the Greg Awards! You had me squealing and grinning like an idiot ^_^.**

**You won't like me after this chapter, but let's be honest - what else is new? :P**

* * *

**Chapter 8. Discovered**

They spent a lot of time with the two girls, all of them crying and hugging each other, and explaining things; and by the time Fiyero and Elphaba left, she felt exhausted from all the emotions.

She leant against him and he wrapped his arm around her, squeezing her softly. "You okay?"

She shrugged listlessly. "I guess." She heaved a sigh. "At least now they know… that I'm still here. And it's good to know that I said goodbye, just in case something happens, but…"

She trailed off, but it didn't matter – Fiyero understood what she meant. He planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, Fae."

She smiled faintly. "I love you, too."

He stopped and cupped her face with his hands, making her look up at him. "You'll be alright," he said softly, brushing some stray strands of hair away from her face. "You're the strongest person I know, Elphaba. You'll get through this. _We _will get through this. Together."

Before she could say anything, his one hand travelled to the back of her head, tangling in her long, raven hair, as he leant forward and pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes closed almost as if they had a will of their own and she wound her arms around his neck, pressing herself closer against him as he deepened the kiss.

"Tiggular?" a stunned voice suddenly broke their moment. "What in the name of _Oz_ are you doing?!"

Elphaba tensed, but when she saw that it was Avaric, her eyes narrowed. She advanced on him, but Fiyero held her back.

"He's drunk," he whispered. A smirk tugged at the edges of his mouth. "Let's have some fun with him."

Elphaba sniggered.

"What I'm doing?" Fiyero asked casually, placing one arm around Elphaba's shoulders. "I'm kissing my invisible girlfriend."

Avaric spluttered. "You… She… What…"

"Yeah, I got tired of all those regular girls," Fiyero said casually. "So I found myself someone more… special." He looked at Elphaba and realised that wasn't even a lie. Of course if he said that aloud she would assume he called her 'special' because of her skin, which was why he didn't say it; but she _was _special. She was so much more special than any of the brainless bimbos from his past had ever been.

Avaric took another swing from the bottle he was carrying, shaking his head all the while. "Tiggular's lost it," he slurred. "Invisible girlfriend… Bet'cha it's the Artichoke's ghost. Booooooo. Hey, Artichoke… D'you wanna bet, too? How long do _you _still think you'll be in that coma? You can't bet on the other thing, because I guess you _know _how you died and that wouldn't be fair. No, no, not fair…"

"Uh-oh. Now you've pissed her off," Fiyero grinned, just as Elphaba stomped over towards the obnoxious boy and grabbed his hair, yanking his head back.

Avaric yelped and tried to get away, but Elphaba grabbed his shirt and stopped him. The boy's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he suddenly found himself punched in the stomach by… nothing.

She pushed him down onto the floor and held him there with one foot on his back. She cast a glance back at Fiyero. "May I?"

"Of course," he said. "Go ahead."

"What?" Avaric spluttered, but a kick against his arm cut him off. "Ouch! Would you stop that!"

"No," Elphaba said, pushing him down again with her foot.

"I'm serious, Avaric," Fiyero said, moving closer to the other boy. "End the pool now and stop saying such things about her. You don't _do _that when someone is in a coma."

Avaric huffed. "Fine, fine, just… tell your creepy invisible Artichoke to get off me!"

She bristled, but did move away. Fiyero, however, pulled Avaric up again and punched his jaw.

"Don't ever call her that again," he hissed.

Then he wrapped an arm around Elphaba's waist and they quickly hurried off.

She leant her head against his shoulder. "Thanks for defending me."

He pressed his lips to her hair. "Always. Anytime."

Behind them, they heard some chattering girls and Madame Morrible's voice, and then Avaric. "It was Fiyero's invisible girlfriend! The Artichoke's ghost! She tried to kill me!"

The girls burst all out in giggles and they heard Morrible's disapproving voice. "Are you _drunk_, Master Avaric?"

Avaric muttered something and Fiyero grinned at Elphaba. "No-one believes him."

"Good." Elphaba chuckled and tugged at his arm. "Let's get out of here, though, before they can blame it all on you."

"Wait a clock-tick," Fiyero said, frowning. "You said Morrible is working with the Wizard. Why is she still Headshiztress, then?"

Elphaba shrugged. "I suppose she's not working _for _the Wizard," she said. "If that was the case, we would have heard about it. She's probably just helping him with his evil plans."

Fiyero nodded. "Well… maybe we can find out about their further plans," he suggested. "I mean… sneak into her office, or something."

Elphaba's eyes started shining. "Fiyero, that's a brilliant idea!" she exclaimed, hugging him quickly.

He grinned at her. "I have my moments." He put his arm around her shoulders. "You'd better do that at night," he said. "When she's asleep and can't walk in on you. Not that she'd see you, but still."

Elphaba nodded. "I'll do it tonight. What do you want to do now, then?"

They ended up going back to Fiyero's dorm room, unsure of where else to go – it was a Saturday after all, so there were no classes. They had barely closed the door behind them, however, before Boq stormed in.

"Fiyero!" he yelled. "Have you heard?" He waved a newspaper in Fiyero's face. "The Wizard! The Wonderful Wizard has left Oz!"

Elphaba sucked in her breath and Fiyero stared at Boq, baffled. "Really?"

"I didn't think he was being serious," Elphaba whispered. "But he was! He's really leaving!"

Boq showed Fiyero the front page of the paper. It went on and on about the Wizard, how the strains of Wizardship have been too much for him and he's taking an indefinite leave of absence. There were all kinds of speculations about the reason why – he's been getting death threats, he misses his own world, he's in love and wants to build a life with his family… and the real reason – the ghost of a past Ozma has been haunting him and he is fleeing the country.

Boq whistled. "They're brave, to print something like that. Normally when someone so much as _breathes _a word about the Wizard being scared, or wrong, or a coward, that person is immediately chased down by angry mobs."

"Yes, well, with the Wizard gone, it doesn't matter what people say about him anymore," Fiyero pointed out. "Who's taking over?"

Boq shrugged. "Doesn't say. Some high officials, I bet. I believe your parents, Fiyero, and all the other leaders of Oz's provinces are getting together to arrange some things. Nessa said her father is going to pass by Shiz on his way to the City."

Elphaba froze, though Fiyero couldn't exactly pinpoint why. He cast a glance in her direction, but couldn't read the expression on her face.

"Anyway, I just wanted to show you." Boq took the newspaper back and folded it, tucking it under his arm. "I'm going to check on Nessa." He walked to the door, then hesitated and turned again. "Is there… any news?"

"On Elphaba's condition?" Fiyero translated. He shook his head. "No."

Boq nodded solemnly, then slipped out the door.

"He's actually kind of adorable when he's like that," Elphaba commented. "You know, all awkward around Nessa and Galinda crying and clearly uncomfortable whenever my condition is brought up in conversation, but it's clear he cares."

"He does," Fiyero agreed quietly, gaze still trained on the door. Then he shook his head and turned around. "So what happened when Boq mentioned that meeting of all the leaders of the provinces of Oz? I could almost feel the tension radiating off of you."

Elphaba bit her lip, her face suddenly worried. "Not the meeting," she said. "The fact that Father is going to stop by on his way to the City."

Fiyero looked confused. "I'm assuming he just wants to see Nessa…"

"Probably," Elphaba agreed. "But… what if he signs those papers, Fiyero? What if he goes to the hospital and the doctors tell him I haven't improved, and he decides to turn off my life support because I'm costing him too much money?"

Fiyero paled.

The dark-haired girl sighed and sat down on the couch, drawing her knees to her chest. "I wish I was back in my body."

Fiyero sighed and went to sit next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "I do, too, green girl. But you'll get there. Eventually. And in the meantime, we're going to do anything it takes to keep Frex from signing those papers. If he even wants to sign them in the first place," he reminded her. "You don't know that for sure. I'm sure Nessa wouldn't want him to – especially not now that she knows your spirit is still here - and don't you think your father would listen to her?"

"Maybe," Elphaba said reluctantly. "But, Yero, we're talking about my _father _here. The man that cleared out my room within a few days of hearing about me being in a coma. He doesn't care one twig whether I live or die."

Fiyero's grip on her tightened. She looked up at him.

"It doesn't bother me, Yero," she said gently. "Not anymore. I know how he feels about me and I'm okay with that."

He shook his head furiously. "How can you be okay with your own father hating you?!" he demanded incredulously, but she just shrugged.

"It's what I've always known," she said. "I wouldn't know what it's like to have a father that loves me. This is all I've ever known, Fiyero. I'm used to it."

He stayed quiet for a moment. Then he asked, "Do you hate him, too?"

She took a few moments to contemplate that, mulling it over in her head, before she replied. "No."

Fiyero looked at her, surprised.

"Because no matter what he's done to me, no matter how little he cares…" Elphaba sighed. "He's still my father. And he adores Nessa, just like I do. He's good to her. She loves him. That's reason enough for me not to hate him."

"It's frustrating," he mumbled, resting his chin on top of her head. "To hear you say such things. To hear you telling me that you _don't _hate the man that made your life miserable, the man that might kill you, because he treats your _sister _like a princess."

"She deserves to be treated like that," Elphaba began, but Fiyero cut her off.

"And you don't?"

She remained silent.

He sighed and tightened his hold on her even further. "You do," he said, kissing the top of her head. "And you will be, Fae, I promise… if you let me. And…" He sighed again. "No matter how frustrating I find it to hear that you still place your sister's needs before your own… it's also one of the reasons I love you so much," he admitted. "Because… because you're selfless and compassionate, and caring and protective… you don't let people in very easily; but when you do, you give them your all – the way you do with Nessa, or Galinda. You would kill for them. You would die for them. You're so passionate about everything and I love that about you."

"I would do that for you, too, you know," she said softly, pulling away slightly to look up at him. "I love you, too. More than you'll ever know, and… I would do anything for you."

He responded by leaning down and capturing her lips, and she closed her eyes and melted into his arms. She could never get enough of kissing him. She loved the feeling of his arms around her, the way he smelt, the way his hand tangled in her long, raven hair as he pulled her even closer, the feeling of his lips on hers. She could keep doing this forever.

She wished she could have that chance.

* * *

"I know it's you, Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba froze in the middle of her movements. She was in the Throne Room again – the new one, since she had accidentally burnt the old one down. The Wizard had left Oz, but Morrible was still there; and Elphaba had been planning on changing that.

She had searched through Morrible's things the night before; but the old hag's office hadn't provided any clues as to what Morrible's plans for the future were or how Elphaba could chase her away, and so the green girl had decided to return to the Palace to see if she could do more around here. She had known Morrible would be here – it was a Sunday and Morrible never spent a single Sunday at Shiz.

Elphaba slowly turned around. Morrible was standing there, calmly and patiently staring ahead of her. "I never believed you were a dead Ozma in the first place," she said. "But I couldn't figure out your identity… until that fool of a Tenmeadows started rambling about 'Fiyero's invisible girlfriend, the Artichoke's ghost'. Then it all made sense."

Elphaba swore. Avaric. She suddenly regretted what she and Fiyero had done the previous morning – messing around with Avaric like that. She had given herself away to Morrible now.

"I'm going to tell you what I think happened, Miss Elphaba," Morrible continued. "I think you came here for one reason or another and overheard a conversation between His Ozness and me. You found out about the things we're doing to Oz, to the Animals, and you decided to turn against us. Am I right?"

Elphaba, figuring it was no use lying to Morrible when she already knew the truth, found herself a paper and a pencil and wrote, _What you were doing was wrong._

Morrible smirked. "Ah, yes, dearie. It was. It _is_. Because you can't stop me."

_Why?_

"Because Oz needs a scapegoat," Morrible said simply. "With the Ozians looking at the Animals as the cause of all their problems, _I _can continue to rule Oz the way I want to… and I will _not _let some snotty little student get in my way," she hissed. "You were supposed to help us, Miss Elphaba. You were supposed to come here in all your magical glory and the Wizard would hire you as his Grand Vizier, and your magic could help us rule Oz in ways we never could before!"

Elphaba was fuming. _I would never help you with that!_

"I see that now." Morrible turned around. "Clearly I underestimated your sense of justice, Miss Elphaba. I thought the promise of a prominent position in the government and all of Oz loving you despite your skin colour would be enough to sway you, but it seems like I was wrong. I'm very sorry to say this, dearie, but now that you know, I'm afraid you're going to have to be eliminated."

Elphaba's eyes widened. _You wouldn't_.

"I've done it before, and I'd do it again," Morrible said. "It shouldn't be too hard, either. After all, you're in a coma. It's not like you can fight back… nor will anyone be surprised if you die." She smirked and walked towards the door. "Time to say goodbye, dearie."

Elphaba just stood there, frozen in place as Morrible cackled and left the room.


	9. Pleaded

**AN: So I understand that some of you have heard me sing... thanks to a _certain someone _who couldn't resist spreading the link *glares at that certain someone*. Yes, Xanne-Li, you better go hide now before I get out my pitchfork!**

**I was already worried that so many of you wanted to kill Morrible, but none of you seemed to want to kill _me _(I mean, admit it, that's a first); but then I saw Wickedly Hope Panacake's review, in which she said she wants to send the Maddy Hunters after me, and I was reassured again ^_^.**

**Musicgal3: Sure, you can kill Morrible!**

**Siarenthander: Yes, it got through!**

**So I already made it clear that Xanne-Li is about to get killed (the Frex Hunters are already on their way to your house, dearie!); but then she showed me a message you, Alyssa, left, and it literally had me squealing for about ten minutes :P. So, Alyssa, this chapter is dedicated to you.**

* * *

**Chapter 9. Pleaded**

When Fiyero arrived in his dorm room that night and didn't see Elphaba, he wasn't worried immediately.

He figured maybe she was checking up on Nessa or Galinda, or maybe she was at the hospital. Or still at the Emerald Palace, scaring the wits out of Morrible. He smirked at the thought. He had never liked the old fish, but especially after what she had done to the Animals, he didn't feel sorry for her at all. Secretly, he hoped that Elphaba would succeed in chasing the old hag all the way across the Impassable Deserts.

He dropped his heavy bag in a corner and cast a glance in a mirror to assure himself that he still looked presentable; then he grabbed his wallet and key and left his room again to meet up with Galinda and Nessa for dinner.

Ever since he had told them about Elphaba's spirit still hanging around, they had urged him to keep the updates on the green girl's condition. Not that there was much to tell; but they were curious about the way his relationship with Elphaba had developed and how everything had happened, exactly, from the moment he had first seen Elphaba's ghost up until right now.

"I'm going to be honest with you," he said, leaning forward over the table. "Elphaba is worried about your father coming here, Nessa. To Shiz, I mean."

Nessa looked confused. "Why would she be worried about that?" she asked in wonder. "I was… I was actually really happy that he'd stop by, because… because I really needed him these past two weeks."

"Eleven days," Galinda corrected the other girl absently. "It's long enough as it is. You don't have to make it sound even longer."

Nessa looked guilty. "Sorry. Eleven days." She sighed ."Fiyero, I know Fabala and Father don't really have a good relationship, but… but he's coming for me. And I want him to. I need him right now."

Fiyero nodded. "I know that, Nessa," he said gently. "Fae knows it, too. She wants you to be happy and taken care of, and she knows you've missed your father. She wants him to come over for you, she really does. But…" He hesitated, not really wanting to say this, but knowing he had to.

"But what?" Nessa prodded.

Fiyero sighed. "Fae is worried that…" He really didn't want to do this. How do you tell someone that their sister is afraid that their father is going to kill her?

"She's worried that the hospital might ask your father to sign some papers," he said.

Nessa looked confused. "What kind of papers?"

Galinda, however, realised what he meant and gasped. "No!"

Nessa looked from Galinda to Fiyero and back again, worried. "What?"

"She's worried that Frex might want to pull the plug," Fiyero blurted out.

Nessa paled visibly.

"Elphaba's condition hasn't improved," Fiyero said softly. "The hospital can't keep her forever, Nessa… it costs a lot of money. Fae thinks that your father isn't willing to pay that much money for her."

Nessa was shaking her head frantically. "No," she declared. "Fiyero, you're wrong. He would _never _do that. No matter how difficult his relationship with Fabala is –"

"Difficult?" Fiyero looked at her, his sapphire eyes flaring. "Nessarose, Frex already cleared out Elphaba's room."

Nessa's eyes widened. "No."

"She saw it," Fiyero insisted. "She went to Munchkinland in the first three days after she ended up in that coma, and he had cleared out her room, Nessa. He doesn't care one twig whether she lives or dies and you know it."

Nessa was still shaking her head. "No," she said faintly, almost whimpering. "No. He would never… He wouldn't sign those papers, he wouldn't do such a thing… He cares, Fiyero. He doesn't show it often, but I know he does –"

"No," Fiyero interrupted her harshly. He knew he was being blunt, but she needed to hear the truth. "No, Nessa, he doesn't. Not at all."

"Nessa…" Galinda softly placed her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "It's true," she said. "And you know that, too. He blames her for you being born the way you were, for your mother's death… he hates Elphie."

Nessa was now crying silently, and Galinda pulled her into a hug.

"Go," she mouthed to Fiyero. "I'll talk to her."

He nodded gratefully at her and rose to his feet, almost fleeing the restaurant. He shouldn't be the one to have done this; but Nessa just had to face the truth. _Someone _had to make it clear to her.

He made his way back to his dorm room, hoping that Elphaba would be there.

And she was. She was sitting in the window seat, knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around them as she looked through the window without really seeing anything.

He heaved a small sigh of relief when he saw her. "Hey." He kicked off his boots and put away his keys and wallet, scurrying around the room to clean some things up. Elphaba didn't say anything; she just watched him silently, following him with her eyes.

After a while, he noticed her silence and he turned around. "Fae?" he asked, concern etched on his face. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. Then she shook her head. Then she sighed and said, almost inaudibly, "I am for now."

Furrowing his brow, he abandoned the papers he had been piling up and moved over to where she was sitting. "What does that mean?"

She looked up at him sadly. He'd never seen her like this before. She could be many things – sarcastic, fiery, kind, passionate, gentle, biting, loving, furious, annoyed… but now she just looked _sad_. And though he had seen her sad before, there had always been some kind of fire behind it, something that told him that what was going on was just a momentary breakdown and soon she would be on her feet again, fighting the world the way she always did.

This time, however, there was no fire. There was just defeat. It worried him.

He sat down next to her, taking her hands in his. "Fae, what happened?" he asked her urgently.

She sighed again. "Madame Morrible knows," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She… she saw us with Avaric yesterday, and she put the pieces together… drew the right conclusions. She knows it was me that chased the Wizard away. She guessed why I did it, and… and she told me everything…" She closed her eyes; and when she opened them again, she looked pained. "She knows that I know about what she and the Wizard did to the Animals, and she's going to… how did she put it? Eliminate me."

Fiyero could only stare at her.

"She says it will be easy," said Elphaba. "And she's right, isn't she? I can't defend myself. There's nothing I can do to stop her; and if I die, no-one will suspect murder. Everyone will just think I finally caved under the severity of my injuries."

Fiyero felt like he might throw up. "How… How long?" he croaked, his voice sounding hoarse and choked.

She lowered her eyes, fingers playing with one of the pillows that were lying next to her in the window seat. "It could be any moment," she said softly. "Literally. I don't know what she's planning, or when. For all I know I might disappear in a clock-tick."

Fiyero could hardly process what she was saying. He could feel bile rising in his throat and he suddenly felt dizzy and faint. Morrible knew… and she was going to kill Elphaba. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Yero?" He vaguely registered that Elphaba was shaking his arm, but he just couldn't bring himself to react. He was frozen in place.

She moved to sit on her knees in front of him, cradling his face between her hands. "Yero, look at me," she said urgently.

He blinked slowly, then focused his eyes on her; and before she knew it, he had snatched her to him and he was crushing her against his chest, burying his face in her hair. His shoulders were shaking, and it took her a moment to realise that he was crying.

"Yero…" She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest, closing her eyes as she listened to the sound of his heartbeat. It was a bit faster than usual, due to his emotional state; but it still calmed her down. _Thump-thump. Thump-thump. _She started counting, because anything was better than breaking down and bawling her eyes out with him. If she broke down, it meant she had given up, and she wouldn't. She refused to.

Elphaba Thropp never gave up – especially not without a fight.

* * *

"Father!" Nessa looked like she was about to cry when Frex exited the carriage. He headed straight towards her, leaning down to embrace her.

"My precious girl," he said. "How have you been?"

When she pulled back, her eyes were wide and childlike and her lower lip was trembling. "Not well, Father," she said softly. "Fabala…"

He stroked her head. "I know, my dear. I know. Don't worry, it will all be over soon."

"Over?" Galinda, who had accompanied Nessa to greet her father, demanded a bit sharply. "What do you mean, it will be over soon?" What Fiyero had told her and Nessa the day before had been plaguing her dreams all night long, and she couldn't help being wary of this man. The man that adored sweet and precious Nessarose, but also the man that had treated Elphie, her best friend, who was so amazing and wonderful, like a servant. The man that had even hit Elphie sometimes. The man that had ridiculed and ostracised her, the man that had made her life miserable. Galinda felt rage bubbling up inside of her, but she tried her hardest to keep it in. Her attacking Frex wouldn't get anyone anywhere… no matter how desperately she longed to beat him up with a pair of stiletto heels and poke him in the eye with a mascara wand.

Frex all but glared at the petite blonde next to his daughter. "And who might this be?"

Galinda stuck her chin in the air and extended her hand for him to shake. "Miss Galinda Upland of the _Upper _Uplands. It's a pleasure to meet you, Governor Thropp. I have heard _so _much about you."

His eyes narrowed a little at that, but he shook her hand and replied with cold politeness. "It's a pleasure meeting you, too, Miss Upland. My precious Nessarose has told me about you and your other friends through her letters." He took her in, from her white slippers all the way up to her perfectly curled, golden hair.

He then turned around and smiled at Nessarose. "Come on, my dear girl, why don't we go and have lunch somewhere and you can tell me how you've been, hm?" He didn't spare Galinda a second glance as he took hold of Nessa's chair and started to wheel her away.

Elphaba, invisible to them all, followed them as they walked into a restaurant and took a seat. When the waitress wasn't looking, she managed to snatch a pencil and a piece of paper. She wrote something on it and pushed it into Nessa's hand.

The girl's eyes widened when she felt something touching her hand while there was nothing there; and they widened even further when she realised what must be going on. Her fingers closed around the piece of paper and she held it in her lap and glanced down at it.

_Nessie, _please _don't let him kill me._

Nessa still didn't think her father would actually do such a thing; but if he would, then of course she wouldn't let him. As Frex was distracted by the waitress, who recognised him as the Governor of Munchkinland, Nessa looked to her side.

"Of course not, Fabala," she said softly. "You're my sister. I love you. I will do everything I can, I promise."

The waitress left and Nessa turned back to face her father again, smiling at him as he told her about some political development going on back home; but underneath the table, she held out her hand. Her smile widened when she felt Elphaba slipping her fingers in Nessa's own. Her sister squeezed softly and Nessa risked a small glance to her side. There was nothing there – nothing that she could see, anyway – but just knowing that her sister was around, keeping an eye on her, was oddly comforting.

* * *

The moment Elphaba got back to Fiyero's dorm room, he all but pounced on her, pressing her tightly against his chest. "Oh, thank Oz," he muttered, holding her as close to him as humanly possible.

She didn't reprimand him for being dramatic. Not now, not with Morrible's threat looming over their heads. The relief on his face when they had woken up that morning and he had found her still there had almost been enough to make her cry. He was so scared for her, perhaps even more scared than she was for herself. He had been holding her tightly all night long and she knew he hadn't slept well. He'd woken up every few minutes – more often than not because he had a dream about her disappearing. She hadn't. Not yet, anyway.

She burrowed in his arms now, allowing him to crush her against his chest. He pulled away slightly to press his lips against hers and she melted into the kiss, eyes closing on their own accord. He deepened the kiss, tangling his fingers in her long hair. There was something desperate about the kiss that ignited a fire in her and worried her at the same time.

She knew he was scared. She was scared, too. She knew that he loved her and he didn't want to lose her – she had accepted that much by now.

But the way he was responding to all of this made her wonder how he would react if this didn't end the way they wanted it to. If she died – whether that would be by natural causes, because Frex pulled the plug or because Morrible killed her – how would he cope? His despair was almost tangible. She had never realised how deep his love for her really went, but she was starting to realise it now and she didn't like it.

She tore herself away from him, both of them breathing heavily as she created enough distance between them to talk. His hands were still firmly around her waist and she laid her hands flat against his chest, pausing a moment before speaking her mind.

"Yero," she said finally, looking up at him, her eyes meeting his sapphire blue ones. "If I don't make it..."

She could feel him wincing, which really only magnified her worries.

"…will you be okay?" she finished, her voice soft. She looked at him, wanting to see his face, his eyes, to know for sure that he would be telling the truth.

He was avoiding her gaze. "Fae, I… I love you," he said weakly.

"I know." She leant up to kiss him softly on the lips. "I know, Yero my hero. I love you, too. But I need to know that you'll be okay if something happens to me."

He swallowed.

"Promise me," she said, still looking up at him. "Promise me you'll be alright. You have to. I don't want to leave you, Yero, but I might not have a choice; and if I do, I want to – no, I _need _to know that I won't have to worry about you."

He swallowed again, with difficulty. "I promise." He had to choke it out and it took him a lot of effort to say it, but he did. He had to. For her.

She looked up at him, her face soft as she brushed some hair away from his face. "Thank you."

He drew her into his arms again and buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent, convincing himself that she was still here.

She let him.

* * *

"Father," Nessa said pleadingly. "Father, I… I know you and Fabala never really got along."

He looked at her, pacing back and forth, thoughtful.

"But I love her," Nessa said softly. "And if you let her die –"

"Whoa." Frex stopped and held up both hands. "What?"

"Father, some people are convinced that you came here to…" Nessa swallowed. "To pull the plug. To… to let Fabala go."

He looked genuinely surprised. "Nessa, sweetheart," he said, kneeling down in front of her chair. "I came here for you."

She nodded. "I know," she said. "But… but you don't love her."

He didn't deny that.

"And her staying here costs you money," Nessa continued, "so I thought…"

He frowned slightly, clearly thinking about that.

"Please don't," Nessa whispered. "I already lost my mother, and Fabala is the closest thing to a mother I have left… she'll be fine, Father. You just wait and see. I can't lose her. Please…"

"Nessa," Frex said gently, kissing the top of her head. "I would never do something you don't want me to."

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Really?" she asked hopefully. "You'll let her live?"

Frex hesitated for a short moment, but he decided to be honest with his precious daughter. "If that is what you want, my dear," he said.

Nessa heard the words he didn't say – he himself didn't care whether Elphaba lived or died; but at least he wouldn't sign those papers. He would keep her alive. Not for himself, but for Nessa – and to her, that was good enough.

"Thank you, Father," she whispered, and he smiled at her.

"Now, off you go," he said, stroking the top of her head once more. "Go have fun with your friends. I will meet you tonight for dinner, alright?"

She nodded and smiled at him; then turned around and wheeled herself away.

Frex turned, too, planning on going back to his hotel room to do some more work until he met up with his daughter again; but just then, a woman approached him.

"Governor Thropp," she said, curtsying slightly. "My name is Madame Morrible, Headmistress of Shiz University."

He nodded politely at her. "Pleasure to meet you, Madame."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Governor." Her eyes were glittering maliciously as she approached him. "Governor, if you please… I need to talk to you about your daughter."

"Nessarose?"

She shook her head, moving her head closer to his. "No, Governor. Elphaba." She offered him her arm. "Why don't we go for a small walk?"

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuunnnnnnn.**


	10. Killed

**AN: This chapter actually goes with a blog post. It's about a Dutch song I think really fits this story, especially this chapter; the link to the song and a partial translation on it are both on my blog! Queen of cliffies dot blogspot dot nl. Remove the spaces.**

**BlueD: I died with laughter when I read that xD.**

**Moreanswers24: _That _actually cracked me up so much I posted it on Twitter :'). Please with dead Morribles on top... *howls with laughter***

**No, Morrible does not put a spell on Frex... Frex is evil enough of himself without needing a spell to make him even more evil.**

**You'll hate me after this, but I have protectors. Their names are Elizabeth and Chainsaw. Mwahahaha!**

* * *

**Chapter 10. Killed**

"Fabala!" Nessa knocked on the door to Fiyero's dorm room – or, well, knocked; it was more like pounding. Nessa never pounded. Ever. She was always the picture of sophistication, grace and elegance.

Not now, however. Now she looked like the devil was on her heels.

"Fabala!" she shouted again. "Fiyero, open the door! Open it now!"

He did, so unexpectedly that Nessa almost lost her balance and toppled out of her chair. She quickly wheeled herself into the room, eyes darting from left to right. "Is she here?"

Fiyero nodded and Nessa turned. "Fabala," she said desperately. "He's going to do it. Father… he's going to sign the papers!"

Fiyero froze. He met Elphaba's gaze over Nessa's head.

The green girl knelt down next to her sister's chair, grabbing Nessa's hand. The moment the younger girl felt that, she began to cry.

"Fabala, I tried," she sobbed. "I swear I tried. But Madame Morrible… she went to talk to Father. She convinced him that I'm being delusional in thinking that you might ever wake up again. He believes that I am holding onto a hope that doesn't exist, and that it would be better for me if he let you go because otherwise I keep making myself believing things that aren't true… Morrible told him that you will never wake up again, no matter what I say, and… and he believes her, Fabala! He's heading out to the hospital right now! Please, please, Fabala… you have to go to the hospital… you have to stop him!"

Fiyero looked incredibly pale, and Elphaba let go of her sister and moved over to him instead. "Yero, breathe," she ordered, cupping his face in her hands. "We have to go to the hospital. I'll meet you there."

"No!" he cried immediately. "What if you disappear before I can get there? I can't…"

"I know," she whispered, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "But if I don't go now, we might be too late. If I go, I'm sure I could stop him… maybe using my magic or something like that. I _promise _I won't disappear until you're at the hospital, too, okay?" She didn't wait for a reply; just kissed him one more on the lips and disappeared.

Fiyero touched his lips with one trembling hand. A sob racked his body and Nessa wheeled herself closer to him, taking his hand.

"Fiyero," she said, softly but urgently. "Hospital. Now. Please… please save her."

He nodded, managing a tiny smile through his tears; then he bolted out the room, through the hallways of the boys' dormitory and outside onto the streets, where he stopped a carriage.

He would _not _let her die.

* * *

Elphaba arrived at the hospital and immediately saw that her father was already there. He was in her hospital room, looking down at her unconscious body as he listened to one of the doctors.

"…and she is stable," the doctor was saying, "but there is no sign that she is going to wake up anytime soon… if she will ever wake up at all."

"You must understand," Frex said, his eyes still on Elphaba's body, "that my youngest daughter is suffering because of this. She cares a great deal about her sister and her life is standing still because of what happened to Elphaba. My sweet Nessarose is so distressed that she thought I came all the way here to have her sister killed! She thought I came to Shiz only to sign the papers that would allow you to let Elphaba go!"

The doctor shook his head sadly. "I understand your dilemma, Governor," he said not unkindly. "Having a family member or a close friend that is in a coma can have a large impact on one's life, and sometimes it is better to let someone go… if it is unlikely that they will improve."

Frex looked at Elphaba again. "Is it?" he asked. "Unlikely that she will improve?"

The doctor hesitated, then shook his head. "I am sorry, Governor," he said. "We have examined her very thoroughly, and though there is a chance… I personally do not think that she will awaken from her coma."

Frex nodded, all business-like. "Alright then. Doctor, I would like to see those papers."

The doctor looked flabbergasted. "You… you want to let her go, sir?" he asked, frowning slightly. "Now? Don't you want to discuss this with your wife, your other daughter?"

"My wife is dead," Frex said curtly. "My Nessarose's judgement is clouded. This situation is not good for her health, either mentally or physically. She worries all the time, she barely eats and sleeps, and she keeps on hoping that her sister will wake up. I do not wish to keep that false hope alive. Elphaba is my daughter and I decide right here, right now that it is better for her as well as for the rest of my family if we let her go."

The doctor nodded, giving Frex a sympathetic smile. "Of course, Governor Thropp. I'll go and get the papers."  
Elphaba lurched forward and grabbed her father's arm. The moment he felt something invisible touching him, he jerked away, looking around him suspiciously.

She looked around frantically and found a piece of paper and a pencil on the side table. She quickly wrote a message to her father, pushing it into his hand.

_Father, it's me, Elphaba. I'm still here. You can't kill me!_

Frex' eyes widened and he looked around the room, dropping the piece of paper to the floor. "I don't know who you are," he said in a low, growling voice, "or what game you are playing, but –"

_It's not a game! Father, it's me!_

"I don't believe in this foolish nonsense," Frex declared. "You are either a very mischievous young person that wants to pull a prank on me or an evil spirit. In either case, I do not believe that you are Elphaba's… what? Ghost? Ghosts don't exist. Elphaba is gone, all that remains is her body, and that body will be allowed to rest in peace now." With that, he turned on his heels and strode out of the room.

Elphaba made to follow him, but just then, Fiyero skidded into the hospital room, out of breath – he had clearly been running all the way from the carriage to the room. When he saw her, he drew her into his arms, looking at her hopefully.

"Did you prevent it from happening?"

She shook her head, leaning against him. "No," she whispered. "I have no idea how. I tried to tell him that it's me, but he believes I'm an evil spirit. I should've known – he believes in the Unnamed God, and all that stuff… he doesn't believe in ghosts wandering Oz or anything like that. Fiyero, what am I supposed to do?"

"Sir?" The doctor stepped into the room, looking at Fiyero with raised eyebrows. "I'm sorry, sir, but you're not supposed to be here."

Fiyero looked at him. "Why not?" he asked, fearing that he already knew the answer. "She's… she's a friend of mine." His voice broke. "I love her."

Elphaba squeezed his hand tightly.

The doctor's face softened. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"My name is Fiyero Tiggular," he tried again. "I'm the Crown Prince of the Vinkus, and –"

"Your Highness," the doctor interrupted him swiftly. "I am truly sorry, but Miss Elphaba's father is here and he is the one that makes decisions for his daughter. He has expressed his wish to let his daughter go, given the fact that there is little more we can do for her and the chance that she will wake up by herself is very small; and though I tried to convince him otherwise, he does not wish to inform Miss Elphaba's friends of this decision or to let them say goodbye to her. He wants it to be over as quickly as possible, in order for himself and his daughter Nessarose to be able to move on with their lives and –"

"No!" Fiyero went to stand between the doctor and the bed with Elphaba in it. "You can't do that!" he said pleadingly. "Please… She'll wake up, I know she will!"

"Your Highness –"

"Her spirit is still here!" he blurted out. "I can see her! I love her! Please, you can't do this!"

The doctor looked at him sympathetically, but moved away and out of the door. "Security?" he called. "Please remove this young man from the room."

Fiyero's eyes widened. "No!" He struggled against the two men that suddenly came into the room and started pulling him out.

Elphaba was suddenly there, punching one of the security guards in the jaw. The man wobbled and Elphaba punched him again, fighting desperately; but by that time, the other guard had already dragged Fiyero from the room and was keeping him outside.

The doctor helped the other security guard out of the room, trying to reassure him that no, of course he hadn't been punched by a ghost, Fiyero must have hit him with his flailing limbs, and if he would just calm down. The doctor then walked away, only to return a minute later with Frex and a stack of papers in his hand.

"No," whispered Elphaba. She shot into the hospital room after them, yanking the papers from the doctor's hands, wanting to rip them apart.

Frex, however, was faster. He grabbed the papers back. "Leave, you evil spirit!" he roared. "I have signed these papers and this is going to happen, and you cannot stop it!"

He looked at the doctor. "Do it."

The doctor moved over to the machines that were beeping next to Elphaba's hospital bed. The green girl jumped in front of the machines, holding her hands out to push the doctor back. Outside of the room, in the hallway, Fiyero was screaming; still restrained by the two guards, but thrashing wildly in an attempt to break free. Elphaba, growing panicked, felt her powers surging through her body; everything in the room started shaking – the medical supplies on the table, the machines, the vases in the window sill. The doctor froze in place and Frex roared in anger, frustration and confusion, but Elphaba blocked them both out and focused on her powers.

_Come on. Help me. Just this once, you stupid powers, work _with _me instead of against me…_

And then, suddenly, she found herself in the hallway instead of the hospital room.

She blinked for a moment, dazed; but ice cold shivers ran down her spine when she saw Morrible approaching through the hallways, looking smug.

"Do not worry, Governor Thropp," she called through the closed door. "I got rid of that evil spirit for you – it cannot go back into the room now. You just do what you have to do."

Frex nodded at her gratefully, and he and the doctor moved closer to the bed with Elphaba in it.

"No!" Elphaba screamed and started pounding on the window with her fists. "Don't do this! Father! I'm still here, you can't kill me! Father, _please_!" But of course he couldn't hear her. No-one could, except for Fiyero.

He forced himself to calm down enough so that the guards let him go. They glanced at him suspiciously; but since the door to Elphaba's hospital room was locked, they left him behind with a warning not to try anything stupid. Alone with Elphaba now, he moved closer to her.

She turned to face him and her eyes were filled with tears. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I'm so sorry, Fiyero."

He was crying, too, as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, as if by holding her he could prevent her from going anywhere. He closed his eyes, breathing in the exotic scent of her hair, tightening his grip around her body. He felt despair washing over him like a gigantic wave, swallowing him whole. It hit him like a strike of lightning.

He couldn't live without her. He just couldn't.

"Fae…" His voice broke. "Please don't leave me."

"I'm sorry," she sobbed again, clinging to him. "I'm sorry, Yero, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" She kept repeating it like some sort of mantra, and he finally came to his senses enough to realise that this was not how he wanted to let her go. He didn't want to let her go at all, of course; but if he had to, he didn't want her to be feeling guilty about leaving him. She deserved better than that.

He pulled away just enough to look down into her eyes – those dark, deep, mysterious, soul-searching chocolate brown eyes he so loved. "Don't be," he whispered. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. It's okay, Fae. It's okay."

She shook her head frantically. "No," she insisted. "It's not. Of course it's not."

Suddenly she gasped and doubled over as if in pain. He caught her around the waist, holding her tightly. "Fae?"

"I…" She raised her head to look through the window at her own body, and her eyes widened. The doctor had turned off her life support.

She looked at Fiyero desperately. "It's too late. Yero, it's too late…" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply – a heated, searing kiss filled with love and grief and despair. She clung to him, burying her face in his neck. "I love you, Yero my hero, I love you so much… thank you for everything you've done for me…"

"I love you, Fae. I love you." He kissed her again and she burrowed in his arms; but even as he held her, he could feel her slipping away. When he opened his eyes, he could see that she was fading.

Suddenly panicking, he tightened his grip on her. "No… Fae, please, please… no…" A sob escaped his lips.

She leant up to kiss his lips one more time, the touch of her own lips to his barely even noticeable, like the soft brush of a feather. "Goodbye, Yero," she whispered.

He was crying. "I will always love you," he promised her through his tears, and her smile, genuine but filled with sadness and heartache at the same time, was the last thing he saw before she vanished.

He pressed his hands against the glass of the window, staring desperately at her still body in the hospital room. Frex left the room and the doctor went to close the curtains, but Fiyero kept on staring at Elphaba, willing her to be alive, to be alright despite the fact that her life support was turned off. He rested his forehead against the cool glass, his gaze fixed on her, unblinking and intense; as if by staring at her intently enough, he could will her to take a breath, to be alright, to come back to him.

Nothing happened. The line on the one machine that was still working stayed flat, and her chest wasn't rising and falling. And suddenly, the truth hit him like a ton of bricks.

Elphaba Thropp - the one girl he had ever loved; the one person he couldn't live without - was gone.


	11. Healed

**AN: Because I felt a little bit bad for leaving you all on that cliffhanger and reading your reviews - just a little bit - here's another update :).**

**Musicgal3: Why, thank you. *curtsies***

**No, guys, it's not the end. Yes, Elphaba'sGirl, I _promise _this will have a happy ending. You'll be okay after this chapter... sort of. Maybe.**

**Moreanswers24? *tries to coax her out from under the bed* Come on, come on out! I updated!**

**I loved all the sad, desperate, heartbroken reviews... but I think the one I loved most was from stagemanagertargaryen. I mean, everyone was like, "NOOOOOO, YOU KILLED MY FEELS, YOU CAN'T KILL ELPHABA, I'M CRYING" and then there's stagemanagertargaryen: "fantastic job". That was so dry it cracked me up.**

**Thank you for making me die with laughter at your reviews :D. Feel free to try and do it again :P.**

* * *

**Chapter 11. Healed**

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring at her still body through the glass, his eyes pricking with tears. It could be minutes, mere clock-ticks, even; but it felt like hours. His thoughts were a mess – memories of him and Elphaba mixed with pain and grief and the realisation that it was over. She was gone and she wasn't coming back this time. He was absolutely sure that this must be what it felt like to die.

And then it happened.

She drew a breath.

Fiyero wasn't sure at first if he had imagined it. Maybe he wanted this so badly that he had just thought he was seeing it happening before his very eyes. Maybe he was starting to hallucinate.

But then the flat line on one of the machines, the one that indicated her heartbeat, suddenly wasn't flat anymore. It rose and fell, peaks and dales, and the doctor whirled around when he heard that. His eyes widened and he rushed over to the side of Elphaba's bed, pressing his fingers to her neck, then pulling off his stethoscope and listening to her heartbeat and breathing. He tossed the instrument aside and threw the door open. "I need a nurse in here!" he shouted into the hallway before disappearing inside the room again.

All this time, Fiyero was holding his breath. He felt dizzy and disoriented, he wasn't sure what was happening, but he desperately hoped that what he _thought _was happening was indeed actually happening.

A nurse rushed into the room and she and the doctor were talking heatedly for a few moments, with wide arm gestures, meanwhile checking all the machines and pushing another stethoscope to Elphaba's chest. Fiyero felt like he couldn't breathe. _Let her be alive. Please, please let her be alive…_

Finally, the doctor and the nurse both calmed down. The nurse stayed in the room, checking some more things over, while the doctor came out into the hallway.

Fiyero practically pounced on him. "What happened? Is she alive? Will she be okay?" He looked at the doctor anxiously, his heart hammering in his chest.

The man smiled and put a hand on Fiyero's shoulder. "She's alive," he confirmed. "I have no idea how this happened, but somehow, when we switched off her life support, her own body took over again. She hasn't woken up yet and she probably won't, not in the next few hours, at least – her body needs some time to recover first. But honestly? I think she's going to make it. I think she's going to be just fine. She's a fighter, that girl of yours."

That did it. Fiyero broke down, sinking down to the floor, sobbing his heart out. She would be okay. She was alive, she was still here… she hadn't disappeared, she had just returned to her body. She would be fine again.

The doctor seemed to be completely at loss as to what to do with the crying prince. Eventually, he just patted Fiyero's head sympathetically and hurried off. There were things that needed to be taken care of, people that had to be notified. He sent someone to find the green girl's family – Governor Thropp and his youngest daughter, Nessarose – and made some notes in Elphaba's file, peering over the paper every now and then to glance at the Vinkun prince still crying in the hallway.

After what felt like ages and clock-ticks at the same time, the door to Elphaba's room opened and the nurse came out. Her face softened when she saw Fiyero sitting there.

"She's not awake yet," the nurse said softly, placing one hand on his shoulder, "but would you like to see her?"

Her heart broke when she saw his tear-stained face and the hope in his eyes when she asked him that.

"Can I?" he asked her hopefully, and she smiled at him.

"As long as you promise me to try and stay calm and not make it too long," she warned him gently. "She needs her rest right now."

Fiyero nodded, wiping his nose with his sleeve, and scrambled to his feet and into the room. The nurse softly closed the door behind him and he sank down on a chair next to Elphaba's bed, taking her hand in his and softly stroking it with his thumb; then he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"I love you," he whispered, fresh tears brimming in his eyes. "I love you so much… thank you for coming back to me."

He held her hand, he kissed her lips and her cheeks and her hair and her forehead, but he still felt like he wasn't close enough to her. Eventually, he kicked off his shoes and crawled onto the bed next to her, lying down on his side next to her so that he could look at her face. She looked different than she had before. There was more colour in her cheeks and she looked… peaceful. He stroked some soft, raven hair away from her face, pressing a kiss to her temple, then burying his face in her neck, inhaling her scent. He thought she'd smell like hospital now, but that exotic scent so characteristic of her was still lingering around her, though a bit fainter than usual.

Even though the nurse had said that he could only stay for a little while, he didn't move. When the door opened, he braced himself, fearing that they were coming to take him out of the room; but then he looked up and he realised it wasn't the nurse or the doctor coming in. It were Galinda and Nessarose.

"The doctor sent someone to get me," the latter explained upon seeing Fiyero's questioning look. "They wanted to find Father, too, but I told them not to bother. It's not like he… like he cares." She swallowed, clearly finding it hard having to accept that. Galinda squeezed her shoulder.

"Is it true?" the blonde whispered, her blue eyes filled with tears as she looked at Fiyero. "Will she be okay?"

He nodded, a small smile spreading across his face. "Yes," he croaked. "I… they…" He took a deep breath. "She was here," he said, his voice shaking. "She tried to stop them, but they turned off her life support… Frex wanted them to."

Nessa nodded, tears in her eyes as well. "I know."

"Morrible was here," Fiyero choked out. "To see to it that Fae would really die… she cast a spell on the hospital room that prevented Elphaba from going in again. They turned off all the machines, and… we had to say goodbye…" He was crying again, and Galinda stepped forward to hug him gently.

He clung to her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done," he whispered brokenly. "Saying goodbye to her."

"I know, Fiyero," Galinda whispered, rubbing his back comfortingly. "I know."

"And then…" He took a shuddering breath. "And then she… she started breathing again. Her heart started beating…" His head was still spinning. "The doctor said that her body took over again… when the machines stopped breathing for her, she started breathing again herself. He said – the doctor, I mean – he said that she's a fighter."

Nessa smiled softly. She had wheeled herself to the other side of the bed and had taken her sisters hand in her own. "She is," she agreed. "If anyone's a fighter, it's Fabala."

"What about her spirit?" Galinda asked earnestly as she let go of Fiyero. "Is she still here, or how does that work?"

Fiyero shrugged helplessly. "I think… I _hope_ it returned to where it belongs – inside her body," he said. "But I guess we won't know that until she wakes up."

"When will that be?" asked Nessa.

Fiyero shrugged again. "I don't know." He bit his lip. "The doctor said not for a few hours, because her body needs time to heal, but… it might be soon." He tore himself away from Elphaba, turning towards Galinda instead. "Let's… let's give Nessa a moment alone with her," he suggested softly, and Galinda smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"That's sweet of you, Fiyero."

"You don't have to," Nessa said, turning around to face him. "Fiyero, I… I know how much you love her. Especially now, I can see it. And I hate to say this, but… but Father doesn't care about her. I know that now. He really doesn't. Fiyero…" She looked at him, her hazel eyes solemn. "How serious are you about her?"

He didn't hesitate. "More serious than I've ever been about anything in my life," he replied steadily. "I love her. I… I can't live without her."

Galinda let out a soft cry, clasping her hands together. "That is so sweet! Do you want to marry her? Will you live happily ever after?" she gushed.

Fiyero chuckled weakly. "Maybe," he said. "But yes, I do want to marry her. I really, really do."

"You should."

They all turned towards Nessa again. The girl sighed and wheeled herself closer.

"Listen to me, Fiyero," she said. "I never saw how Father treated her, how much he hates her, how unhappy she was with us… and I'm so sorry. But I see it now, and I just can't let her get back to that. I can't let Father treat her like a servant anymore, I can't watch her having to go back to Munchkinland with us and being unhappy again… she deserves better than that." She looked up at Fiyero through her long eyelashes. "Marry her," she said softly. "The sooner, the better. Take her to the Vinkus with you. Make her happy. She's been unhappy for long enough now."

Fiyero was completely baffled.

"Please?" Nessa added, her voice trembling. "She's my sister. I love her. Just…"

She was cut off when Fiyero suddenly swung her out of her chair and spun her around, then hugged her tightly. "Nessa," he declared, "I love you."

Despite everything, she giggled softly. He placed her back in her chair and then Galinda started squealing.

"Oh my Oz!" she said, her eyes shining. "You two should elope!"

Nessa smiled widely. "Yes!"

"There's a small chapel in Shiz," Galinda said enthusiastically. "The town, I mean. They do those kinds of things… It would be so romantic!"

Fiyero felt dizzy again; but this time, it was a good type of dizzy. "Are… are you sure?" he asked Nessa, who nodded vigorously.

"Absolutely," she said.

His smile was so big he felt like his face was going to split in two, but he didn't care. It didn't even disappear when the nurse finally came back and ushered them all out of the room – though it fell a little.

Elphaba would be okay. She was alive and she would be fine again… and they were going to be married.

* * *

Neither of them left the hospital that day. They stayed in the waiting room, sipping coffee and sitting quietly, waiting for any news. At some point, the doctor came into the room.

"Miss Nessarose?" he asked, peering over his glasses at the girl in the wheelchair. "Could you please come with me?"

Nessa looked anxious, as did Galinda and Fiyero. "Why?" she asked, alarmed. "What's wrong? Is my sister okay?"

The doctor smiled at her. "Your sister is perfectly fine, Miss Nessarose," he assured her. "She is regaining consciousness and we thing it will be good for her to see a familiar face when she wakes up."

Nessa held her breath in excitement, but then she looked at Fiyero. "Wouldn't you… wouldn't _you _rather go and see her?" she asked him a bit shyly.

He smiled at her. He was dying to see Elphaba, but he shook his head.

"You're her sister," he said. "You go."

She returned the smile and wheeled herself after the doctor and into a hallway.

Fiyero and Galinda had to wait again. He got up and went to get them some fresh coffee; she sighed and wiggled her foot, impatient for any news. Nessa returned about fifteen minutes later, her eyes shining, though she also looked a little sad.

"They kicked me out," she said when she reached her friends. "They didn't want me to stay any longer, because Fabala needs to sleep, but… she's awake. She's awake and responsive, she knew who I was, and she practically begged me to get her out of here as soon as possible because she _hates _hospitals and she is feeling, I quote, "completely fine"."

Fiyero's face broke into a grin and Galinda smiled widely. "Oh, thank Oz!"

Nessa then looked at Fiyero. "There's one thing, though," she said softly.

The look in her eyes made him wary and he asked a bit more harshly than he had intended, "What? Nessa?"

She sighed. "Fiyero, she… she's okay," Nessa said. "But… she doesn't remember."

Fiyero stared at her.

Nessa looked down. "I'm sorry," she said. "But she doesn't remember anything that happened after the accident."


	12. Helped

**AN: I apologise for the lack of updates on this story and on my crossover. It's just that I learnt I have to resit one of my exams because I failed it (seriously, I had a 5,2 out of ten - if I would have had a 5,5, I would have passed ) and so I have to study a lot... I don't have much time to write in between, and when I do have time inspiration for Always There just seems to come a lot easier than inspiration for my other two fics.**

**Anyway, I think there's one more chapter and an epilogue after this one, or something.**

**PocketSevens, the predictions in your review on Ch. 7 are very interesting ^_^. Just keep reading, just keep reading... (Does anyone get that reference?)**

**Vinkunwildflowerqueen: she hasn't said yes yet... details, details :P.**

**wickedwitchgirl: why, thank you ^_^.**

**Ozzie: YES, it's based on Just Like Heaven ;).**

**Musicgal3: Elizabeth, dearest non-biological twin, I love that you're still trying to break your own 'aww'-record; but you've already broken it ten thousand times and no matter how much I appreciate your 'aww's, they're eating up my review page! :P**

* * *

**Chapter 12. Helped**

_She doesn't remember anything that happened after the accident._

Nessa's words kept playing over and over in Fiyero's head as he was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

He didn't care, though.

Okay, that was a lie. He did care. Of course he cared. She didn't remember everything that had happened with the Wizard and Morrible. She didn't remember their kisses, their time together. She didn't remember any of the times she had cried in his arms, or he had cried in hers. She didn't remember their goodbye.

So yes, he did care… but it wasn't _important_. Not in the light of everything else that had happened. He would get her back. He was sure of that. She didn't remember that they had both admitted their feelings, but those feelings – _her _feelings – were still there. She still loved him. They just needed to start over – he'd have to convince her that he loved her again, get her to admit that she loved him, too… things weren't lost, he reminded himself. Just… postponed.

The most important thing was that she was alive and that she would be alright, and he was so grateful for that.

He had only seen her once since she had woken up from her coma – the nurses had shooed them out of the hospital for the night - and that one time, she had been asleep. They had kept her at the hospital overnight and they had wanted to keep her for a few more days, just to be able to keep an eye on her a little bit longer. She grew more and more restless, however; and the next morning she had threatened the doctor that if he didn't release her from the hospital right this instant, she would climb out of the window and walk all the way back to Shiz herself.

Nessa had swiftly intervened and pleaded with the doctor to sign her sister's release papers, promising him that she and her friends would make sure that Elphaba would take it easy and not strain herself. The doctor had finally conceded and signed the papers. That had been this morning; Galinda and Nessa were at the hospital right now to pick her up.

He wanted to be around her. He really did. He wanted nothing more than to talk to her, to help her, to hold her, to just… be there for her.

But he couldn't. Because no matter what he was telling himself, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that it didn't matter that she didn't remember… it did. And he just couldn't bear being around her, talking to her, the way he had before her accident. So much had happened in only twelve days. His whole life had been turned upside down. She had quickly grown to be the most important thing in his life… and now she didn't remember. It would be too painful.

Plus, he realised, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to restrain himself around her; and he was sure that if he were to slip and kiss her, she would run off and never come back.

He sighed and studied the ceiling of his dorm room as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

* * *

"Fabala?" Nessa asked her sister softly. "You really don't remember _anything _that happened after your accident?"

Elphaba frowned. "No," she said. "Of course not. Nessie, I was in a _coma_. What in Oz am I supposed to remember?"

"This is horrendible!" Galinda wailed. "Elphie, you don't remember that you were a spirit-ghost-soul thingy?"

Elphaba blinked at her.

"You were still hanging around, or, well, your spirit was," Galinda rambled, "and you could touch things but no-one could see or hear you, no-one but Fiyero. And then you went to the Throne Room in the Emerald Palace, and you discoverated that the Wizard and Morrible were both evil and that they were the ones that were hurting the Animals, and you haunted the Wizard until he fled Oz, and you scared the wits out of Morrible, Elphie! But then she found out it was you and she convinced your father that it was better for him and Nessa to stop your life support, and he did! And Elphie, Fiyero told you he loved you, he _loves _you, Elphie, and – oh Oz, you should have _seen _him that day at the hospital!"

"Or before that," Nessa added quietly. "When I came to his dorm room to tell him and you that Father was going to the hospital to sign the papers that allowed the doctor to let you go… he was devastated. It was really awful to watch."

"He wanted to marry you," Galinda said, almost in tears now. "And now you don't remember and it won't happen and that's all just so _sad_!"

Elphaba was staring at the both of them in bewilderment, not at all understanding what was going on. "What in Oz are you talking about?" she asked faintly.

Nessa and Galinda then took turns explaining everything to their sister and roommate as slowly and understandably as possible. Elphaba was very quiet afterwards and the two girls shared a look.

"Maybe telling her all that at once wasn't the best idea," Nessa whispered softly to Galinda at some point, when Elphaba had fallen asleep with her head against the carriage window.

Galinda shrugged. "Maybe," she conceded. "But we did, and we can't take it back now, and… well, she needed to know, anyway."

"She just got out of the hospital this morning," Nessa reminded the blonde. "Maybe this was all a bit much for her."

Galinda bit her lip. "Maybe," she said again.

They were quiet for a while. Then Galinda said, "Funny, how you start noticing things that happened in the past only now. So much falls into place."

Nessa looked at her questioningly.

"Take Morrible," Galinda said. "She always scared me, she didn't do anything to help Dr. Dillamond the day he was being taken away, and everyone thought she was horrible; yet no-one really paid that much thought. And only now do we realise how horrible she really was."

Nessa nodded silently.

"And Fiyero," Galinda went on. "It explains so much. Why he was so moodified, why he started thinking, the way he always acted around Elphie… and the way she acted around him, too."

"How did she act around him?" Nessa asked curiously. She had never noticed anything strange about her sister's behaviour when she was with Fiyero – but then again, the wheelchair-bound girl didn't have a lot of experience with love.

"Just… different." Galinda got a faraway look in her eyes for a moment. "A bit… nervous, sometimes. You know, jumpy, and she blushed a lot… but at the same time she always seemed more at peace around him. Does that make sense? Like he has some magical healing effect on her, or something. He always made her smile, even when she was having a crappy day…"

"_Nothing _can make Fabala smile when she's having a bad day," Nessa muttered, but Galinda just smiled.

"Fiyero can."

She hesitated, looking at her green friend for a moment. Then she turned back to Nessa.

"I think we should bring her to Fiyero's room when we get back to Shiz."

Nessa gaped at the blonde. "Wait. What? Galinda…"

"Like I said," Galinda interrupted her. "She's more at peace around Fiyero, and I think she needs that now more than ever. Plus she's stayed in his room for at least nine out of the twelve days she was in a coma. Maybe… maybe staying there again will help her remember." She looked at the other girl. "And I think it might help Fiyero, too," she added softly. "To have her there. As happy as he is that she's alive, he's also heartbroken because she doesn't remember."

Nessa still looked disapproving. "But –"

"They're going to get married," Galinda said. "Okay, maybe those plans are a little farther off than we had first imagined, but it's still going to happen, isn't it?"

"If Fabala even says yes."

Galinda waved her hand dismissively. "Of course she says yes. Anyway, Fiyero is going to do everything in his power to make her love him again…"

"She already does," Nessa corrected her, ad Galinda nodded.

"Exactly," she said. "I think it would be good for both of them."

Finally, Nessa nodded slowly. "Okay," she said in a small voice. "If you think that's best."

Galinda smiled at her. "Do you want to spend the night in my dorm room? Have a sleepover?" she suggested.

Nessa returned the smile. "I'd like that." Neither of the girls wanted to be alone right now.

The carriage stopped near the boys' dormitory, but since Nessa was in her chair and Galinda was too small to carry Elphaba by herself, they had to wake the green girl up. Galinda slipped underneath Elphaba's arm to hold her up and helped her out of the carriage after helping Nessa into her chair.

"Where are we?" Elphaba mumbled sleepily. She was slurring a little, still half asleep. The doctor had told them that she might be a bit drowsy because of the medication she had been given that morning, but she was supposed to be fine again by tomorrow, when the medication would have worn off.

Nessa smiled up at her. "The boys' dorm," she said. "We're taking you to Fiyero."

"Mm…" Elphaba blinked a few times and yawned. "Why?"

"We just think that's best," Galinda said vaguely as she practically dragged Elphaba through the hallways. "Come on, Elphie, work with me here. I know you're tired and it's good that you want to sleep – according to the doctor, anyway – but you can't sleep yet. Sleeping in hallways isn't healthy. Just one more hallway, okay?"

Elphaba grumbled something unintelligible and Nessa wheeled in front of them to knock on Fiyero's door.

He opened it almost immediately. "Hey, Nessa," he greeted her, but then he saw Galinda and Elphaba behind the girl in the wheelchair and his eyes widened. "What… what are you doing?"

"Listen, Fiyero," Nessa said softly. "We told Fabala everything on our way back here in the carriage, and she's a bit… overwhelmed, I guess… but she'll be fine. We thought… Galinda and I, that is… we thought it might be better for both of you if she stayed here for a little while." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Everything will be okay, Fiyero," she promised him. "Really."

He gave her a faint smile and rushed forward to take Elphaba from Galinda, whose legs were about to buckle under her roommate's weight.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been wearing heels," the blonde muttered to herself, adjusting her stiletto on her foot. Nessa giggled.

Fiyero scooped Elphaba up in his arms as if she weighed nothing –really, she didn't weigh much at all – and looked at the two girls. "Are you sure?"

They both smiled at him.

"We're sure," said Galinda firmly.

Nessa nodded solemnly. "She needs lots of sleep," she told Fiyero. "Though looking at her right now, I don't think that's going to be a problem."

Fiyero looked down and inadvertently smiled. Elphaba had curled up in his arms, her head against his shoulder, and she was sleeping peacefully.

"And she needs medication," Nessa continued. She handed him a small bottle. "Two of these before bed tonight and another one when she wakes up. She's supposed to be at the hospital again tomorrow morning at ten for a check-up – she hates having to go back there, but it was the only way the doctor would let her go. You can come and find us to take her, if you want –"

"No, no, that's fine," Fiyero hastened to reassure the girl. "I'll take her."

Nessa smiled at him. "Good." She turned back to Galinda. "Come on, then – let's go get my things for that sleepover tonight."

Galinda giggled and took hold of Nessa's wheelchair, skipping as she pushed it through the hallway.

* * *

Fiyero carried Elphaba back into his room, kicking the door closed behind him. He carefully placed her down on his bed and she immediately snuggled into his pillows, pulling one towards her and cuddling with it as she heaved a content sigh. The sight made him smile.

He slowly pulled off her boots and took his blanket, pulling it up over her sleeping form. As he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, her eyes half-opened.

"Yero?" she murmured drowsily, and he smiled at her. A sad smile, but still a smile.

"It's me," he confirmed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

She blinked up at him. "Is it true?" she asked softly. "What Glin and Nessa told me?"

Fiyero bit his lip, knowing full well what she was talking about. He considered lying to her for a moment, to make things easier on her; but he couldn't.

"Yes," he said, trying to make his voice sound steady, but failing. "Yes, it's true."

She looked up at him, her dark eyes still foggy with sleep. "I'm sorry I can't remember."

He shook his head, wanting to hold her and kiss her more than anything else, but he fought that feeling. "Don't be sorry," he said. "It's not your fault. You're going to be fine again and that's the most important thing right now."

She scowled even as she drifted back off to sleep, eyes slowly closing. "I _am _fine," she muttered indignantly as sleep claimed her.

He chuckled softly and kicked off his own shoes, lying down on the bed next to her. He didn't touch her; he just studied her. It struck him that right now, alive and well, she resembled her former spirit more than she did her comatose body. Her body, in that hospital bed, stuck to all those machines, had looked… empty. Pale and empty and almost dead. He shuddered to even think about it.

She looked more like she had as a spirit now. More like herself. Her emerald skin was glowing again, there was a healthy colour in her cheeks… to him, she looked more beautiful than ever.

He watched the way the blanket rose and fell in time with her breathing. He saw the way her eyelids fluttered every now and then, though they didn't open. He studied her features: the elegant slope of her neck, her straight nose, her soft lips, slightly parted because she was breathing through her mouth. He reached out to run his fingers through her long, silky hair, relishing in the feeling. She stirred slightly, but she didn't wake up.

He slowly started tracing her features with his finger, his touch so light that she probably didn't even feel it. Slowly, he inched closer to her, until their foreheads and noses were almost touching.

"I wish you could remember," he whispered.

Then he bridged the last few inches between them and kissed her softly.

Her eyelids fluttered again, but she still didn't wake up. He stroked her cheek and she murmured something in her sleep as she curled into him, wrapping her arms and legs around him and snuggling her head under his chin.

He was startled for a moment, but then his arms automatically closed around her and he held her close to him.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair. Again, she murmured something unintelligible that could have been a 'love you too'. He knew how unlikely that was, but he held on to the hope that maybe in her dreams, she remembered.

Eventually he drifted off to sleep himself, comforted by the feeling of having her in his arms, alive and well.


	13. Remembered

**AN: I can honestly say I didn't plan this cliffy... but the opportunity presented itself and I couldn't resist adding in some more... angst, I suppose it would be.**

**A shoutout to PocketSevens - I loved your review ^_^. It made me laugh.**

**Also kudos to musicgal3 (duh) and The Wizard Of Wicked for picking up on that Finding Nemo reference in my AN :P. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... gotta love Dory.**

* * *

**Chapter 13. Remembered**

She awoke because Fiyero moved, trying to pull away.

Actually, he was slowly inching away from her in an attempt not to wake her up; but she was a light sleeper, and he wasn't very subtle in his movements.

She murmured an indignant protest, tightening her grip on his arm. "Stay."

"Fae, someone's at the door," he said gently. "It's going to look weird if they find us in my bed together."

"Just tell them to come in," she muttered, still half asleep. "It's not like they can see me, anyway. There's nothing weird about you lying alone in your bed."

Fiyero stilled. "What?"

She half-opened her eyes at the strange, faint tone of his voice. "What?" she echoed, frowning slightly.

He was staring at her. "You just said…"

Another knock on the door, and Fiyero shook it off – he had probably just imagined it, anyway. Wishful thinking.

He quickly got up and went to open the door to find Boq on the other side.

The Munchkin just silently handed him a pile of work that caused Fiyero's eyes to widen. "What in Oz is that?" he demanded incredulously.

Boq grinned at him a bit sheepishly. "I took notes for Elphaba," he said shyly. "You know, while she was in a coma. I mean… I figured if she'd wake up, she wouldn't want to be behind in her classes, and I…" He shrugged. "I guess it's just that… that was the only thing I could do to… help, you know?" He shuffled around a bit uncomfortably. "Anyway, Galinda said that Elphaba was staying with you for now, so… just… give this to her. And give her my best." He waved awkwardly. "Bye."

"He's really sweet," Elphaba mumbled from the bed as Fiyero closed the door. "A bit awkward, but sweet."

"He is," Fiyero agreed, putting the pile of paper on his desk.

Elphaba yawned. "Good thing, too, that he took notes," she said sleepily. "Just because I went to my classes, doesn't mean I have notes, and I don't have a magical super-brain. I can't remember everything the professors said in their lectures."

"Remember..." Fiyero suddenly realised what this meant and he whirled around to face her. He stared at her, his breaths coming in short, shallow gasps. "You remember!"

She yawned again. "What? No, I just said I _don't _remember what the professors –"

"Not the lectures," Fiyero cut her off, starting to grow more and more excited. "The… the time you spent as a ghost. When you were in a coma!"

She scowled at him. "I was _not _a ghost," she began exasperatedly, but then she realised what exactly it was he had said and her eyes widened. "Wait. What?"

"You said you went to your classes," he reminded her, feeling a little faint and dizzy with excitement. "And before, when Boq was knocking on the door… you said 'it's not like he can see me, anyway'. You thought you were still a spirit-thingy, didn't you? You… you remember!"

She blinked, suddenly wide awake. "I do?"

It wasn't all clear. Some things were still a bit fuzzy, especially things concerning the Wizard and Morrible; but she remembered going to class now. She remembered looking down at her own body. She remembered visiting Nessa and Galinda in their dorm rooms without them knowing… and she remembered Fiyero. Some memories were so blurry that they weren't even really memories – they were more of a feeling – but others were crystal clear now. Images flooded her mind, all the things she'd forgotten when she had woken up from her coma, but were back now.

"_You can see me?!"_

"…_we'll figure something out. I promise…"_

"_Surely you've been kissed before?"_

"…_can I give you your second, too?"_

"_Elphie!"_

"_I love you…"_

"_Madame Morrible knows… she's going to eliminate me."_

"_Fabala… you have to stop him!"_

"_You can't kill me! Father, please!"_

"_I'm so sorry, Yero…"_

"_Fae… please don't leave me."_

"_I will always love you."_

"I do," she said slowly, trying to absorb all this new information. She looked up at Fiyero, a look of wonder on her face. "I do!"

And then she suddenly launched herself from the bed and into his arms, throwing her own arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry I didn't remember, Yero!" she said, burying her face in his neck.

"But… but you do now?" he asked her again, still not daring to believe it.

"Most of it," she conceded. "But… I think the rest will come back. Eventually. I… I'm so sorry I scared you." She traced his features with her fingers and then leant up to kiss him softly. "But I'm so happy to be back. Really back, I mean. Not my spirit, but all of me." She looked up at him. "I love you," she said a bit shyly.

Slowly, the biggest, most beaming grin she had ever seen spread across his face; and before she knew it, he had lifted her up with his hands around her waist and he was spinning her around. She couldn't help but giggle and he lowered her to kiss her again, pulling her flush against him as he deepened the kiss. Neither of them pulled away until they had to breathe.

He rested his forehead against hers, smiling widely. "I love you, Fae."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

They stayed like that for a long time, Elphaba with her head tucked under Fiyero's chin, wrapped securely in his arms. After a few minutes he pulled away.

"What do you remember?" he asked her softly.

"The most important things." She looked up at him. "Not everything is entirely clear, but the most important parts are there." She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist again, closing her eyes. "I love you so much…"

"Elphaba," he said, feeling drunk with excitement.

She looked up at him questioningly.

He traced her jaw line with his finger. "Marry me."

She blinked, shocked. "What?"

"Fae…" He took her hands in his and gently led her towards the bed, setting her down and sitting down beside her. "I love you," he said. "More than I've ever loved anything or anyone."

She nodded, dazed.

"And…" He swallowed. "Fae, your… your own father tried to kill you."

"Fiyero –" she started to protest, but he cut her off by pressing his fingers to her lips.

"I know," he said. "I shouldn't put it like that. But he _did _cut off your life support, and I know how he treats you, Fae. Nessa told me some things while we were at the hospital. I don't want you to go back to him. Even Nessa said that you were unhappy with her and your father, and I don't want that for you. I want you to be happy, and safe, and loved. And then Galinda suggested we elope, and –"

"Yero," she cut him off.

He looked at her hopefully. "Yes?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Can we… can we talk about this later?" she asked him softly. "I'm not feeling well, I'm tired, my head hurts… and I'm getting a bit of an information overload here."

"Right." He flushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Fae," he burst out. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know." She took his hand and laced their fingers together. "Just like Glin and Nessa didn't mean to blurt out the entire story on our way back from the hospital," she couldn't help but add with just a touch of sarcasm. "It's just a bit much right now, you know? I'm sorry," she said when she saw the slightly crestfallen look on his face.

"No, no, that's fine," he hurried to reassure her. "Of course. I understand." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Here, you need to take two of these pills…" He fetched them from the nightstand and got her a glass of water. "And then I'll go get us some dinner, okay? You just try to sleep."

She nodded, taking the pills and putting the glass back on the nightstand. "Thanks, Yero."

He smiled and squeezed her hand, then left the room.

* * *

"Fiyero!" Galinda came running towards him when he was on his way back to his dorm room with a small bag in his hand.

"Hey, Glin," he greeted her.

She stopped in front of him, slightly out of breath. "How's Elphie?"

"Still a little overwhelmed," he admitted truthfully. "Probably my fault. I, um… I may have dropped the will-you-marry-me bomb on her."

Galinda immediately started beaming. "You asked her to marry you?" she squealed loudly. "Are you _serious_? Did she say yes?" Then she frowned. "Wait a clock-tick. Fiyero, are you out of your mind? Why would you ask her to marry you? She doesn't even remember…" Again, she cut herself off and her eyes widened. "Unless… Fiyero?"

He grinned at her.

"She remembers?" Galinda held her breath and when Fiyero nodded, she started squealing again and threw her arms around him. "Oh, Fifi, that's so wonderfullimazifying!"

"It is," he agreed, still grinning broadly. "I'm really happy, but I need to remind myself to take it slow with her. I mean, she just woke up from a coma, for Oz's sake. She's still physically weak and I guess something like this messes with someone's mind, too. It must be really strange for her to be back…"

Galinda patted his arm. "Well, I know you'll take great care of her, Fiyero," she said earnestly. "Just give her some time, be nice to her, but don't push her. And don't forget that doctor's appointment tomorrow morning," she reminded him.

He nodded. "I won't." Then he hesitated. "Glin?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what happened to Fae's father?" he asked her quietly. "Does he know that she's awake? Does he care?"

Galinda bit her lip. "He knows," she said slowly. "Nessa told him when he came over to see her this afternoon. As for your second question… well, I think you can guess the answer to that one."

He sighed. "I guess."

Galinda gave him an encouraging smile. "Well, at least she has people around her who love her now," she said. "And isn't that what really matters?"

He smiled at her. "You know, Glin? Sometimes you're really smart."

She giggled. "I know. I'm totally smartified." She tossed her hair, making Fiyero laugh.

"Oh, and Fiyero – have you seen Madame Morrible around?" she added as an afterthought.

His face darkened. "No. If I had, she wouldn't be around anymore now," he growled darkly.

Galinda frowned. "Weird. I haven't seen her, either… not since yesterday," she said.

"Elphaba saw her at the hospital." Fiyero swallowed. "Right before… you know."

Galinda squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. "Well, I hope she's disappeared into the void," she muttered. "But if I see her, I'll let you know."

"What are we supposed to do?" Fiyero hissed, lowering his voice. "She tried to kill Fae! What if she tries it again?"

"Don't _worry_, Fiyero. We'll all keep an eye on Elphie, and –"

Fiyero's eyes widened. "I left her alone."

Galinda scoffed. "Fiyero, Morrible doesn't even know she's staying with you, and –"

"But what if she does?" Fiyero demanded in a high voice. He spun around and ran off, suddenly overcome with terror.

"Fiyero!" Galinda called after him. He heard her heels on the pavement as she followed him, but he didn't slow down to let her catch up. He suddenly had a really bad feeling about this.

He ran through the hallway and threw open his door, quickly scanning the room with his eyes. "Fae?"

Not a sound.

He dumped the bag with their dinner on his desk and moved further into the room. He felt relieved for a moment when he saw her sprawled across his bed, apparently asleep; but his worry returned full-on when he realised that she wasn't moving. He had spent quite some nights with her now – enough to know that she was always moving in her sleep. Always. At the very least a flutter of her eyelashes, a sigh, a mutter, anything. She never seemed to be able to lie still… but she was lying still now.

"Fae?" He touched her, shook her lightly.

She still didn't move.

"Fae, wake up!" he shouted. "Elphaba!" He was yelling loud enough to wake the dead. She still didn't pull a muscle.

His breath hitched in his throat and he was overcome by panic.

He was too late.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuuuun...**

**It might be one more chapter and an epilogue... or maybe even a bit longer than that, I'm not sure yet.**


	14. Solved

**AN: I love how you all fell for that... except for Elizabeth, aka musicgal3, who once again read my mind (CREEPCREEPCREEPCREEPCREEP!). And Vinkunwildflowerqueen. And PocketSevens - thanks for trusting me ^_^. And then there was stagemanagertargaryen: 'Nice job'. Why, thank you *curtsies*.**

**And the prize for funniest review goes to The Wizard Of Wicked. 'Because she wasn't dead enough in chapter 10.' Honestly, that had me cracking up :P.**

**Moreanswers24: He's Glikkun, but okay, just this once, you can have him ;).**

**Caricature of a Witch: You scare me.**

**ExoticPeachBlossom: Aw, thank you so much! *hugs***

**Musicgal3: Hahaha I love you starting to sing that to the Maddy Hunters xD.**

**Siarenthander: I'm not polite, you should know that by now *smirk*.**

**Was there more I wanted to say? Hm...**

**I'm going to see Flashdance again this Sunday! :D I'm really excited, and... it's the very final show of it in the Netherlands! (Which I didn't know when I booked the tickets. I feel like such an idiot right now.) So I'm bouncing, I can't wait - I mean, it's the final show and my friend and I are in the first row! Yay!**

* * *

**Chapter 14. Solved**

"Fiyero?" Galinda stormed in behind him, looking positively bewildered. "What in Oz…"

"She's dead!" His voice was high and he was gripping his hair in panic, pacing up and down. "Glin, she's… she's not moving!"

"Fiyero, not everyone moves in their sleep –" the blonde began patiently, but he cut her off.

"She always moves, Galinda! Always!"

"Fiyero?"

"And I've been shouting at her, shaking her… she's not waking up!"

"Fiyero!"

"What?!" he screamed, whirling around.

Galinda just pointed calmly at the bed. "She's breathing."

Fiyero blinked – it was hard to see through the tears that had sprang to his eyes – and then he saw that she was right. Elphaba's chest was rising and falling steadily. She wasn't dead…

But she wasn't awake, either.

His eyes widened. "Has she fallen back into her coma?" he whispered. He climbed onto the bed next to her and started shaking her again softly. "Fae? Fae, please wake up…"

No movement.

"Oz dammit, Elphaba!" he cried and he gave her a final, hard shake. "Wake _up_!" he practically screeched in her ear, overcome by panic.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Elphaba suddenly screamed as she shot up so unexpectedly that Fiyero lost his balance and fell off the bed.

"Fiyero!" Elphaba yelled, putting one hand over her heart as she tried to catch her breath. "What in Oz?! You don't wake a person up like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Do you want to see me back in the hospital or something?!"

"He thought you were dead," Galinda informed her friend drily. She poked Fiyero with her foot. "Fifi, I told you she was breathing. You don't always have to assume the worst."

She gave Elphaba a quick hug. "I'm glad you remember, Elphie," she said with a small smile and a kiss to her friend's cheek. "Get better soon. And goodnight. And pluck Fiyero off the floor!" she called over her shoulder as she left, closing the door behind her.

Elphaba hung over the edge of the bed, the ends of her long raven hair just brushing the floor, concern in her chocolate brown eyes as she looked at the Vinkun prince still sitting on his backside, looking dazed. "Yero?"

He quickly scrambled to his feet; then he took one good look at her and pulled her to him, crushing her against his chest and muttering, "Thank Oz" into her hair.

She tried to pull away slightly to look at his face, but he was holding her so tightly she could barely move. After a while she just gave in and let him hold her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered after a while. "I didn't mean to scare you like that, I just…" He heaved a shaky sigh. "Glin and I were talking about Morrible, and then I thought… what if she would try to kill you again, and… and then you weren't moving and you didn't wake up… You're a light sleeper, you always wake up…"

"Fiyero," she said gently. "I just woke up from a coma and the medication they gave me this morning was enough to keep a Horse knocked out for hours. I don't think it's all that strange that my sleeping pattern is a bit different than usual, do you?"

He sniffled. "I guess not. I'm just…"

He buried his face in her hair and she pressed her cheek against his chest, where she could hear his heartbeat. "I know," she whispered. "It's okay. I understand." She pulled back a little and kissed him softly. "I love you."

He sniffled again. "I… I love you, too, Fae." He kissed her again, harder this time. Then he tripped and they both tumbled onto the bed together.

A rare giggle escaped Elphaba, closely followed by a yawn. Fiyero kissed her temple softly and pulled away to grab the bag with their dinner from the desk where he had left it.

They ate it on the bed together, Elphaba sitting between Fiyero's legs with her back resting against his chest. When they had finished eating, they just sat together for a few more moments and Fiyero ran his fingers through Elphaba's silky, ebony hair, lost in thought.

After a while, he felt her relaxing somewhat; and he continued to play with her hair, stroking her arm and her side with his other hand, until he felt her weight growing heavier against him and he knew she was asleep again. He carefully moved her so that she was lying on the bed, pulling the blankets over her sleeping form – he didn't want her to catch a cold or something – and cleaning up the leftover food before changing into his nightclothes and joining her in the bed.

He didn't sleep, though. He just couldn't. He had honestly thought that she was dead, or at the very least back in a coma, for a moment; and it had scared the living daylights out of him. He couldn't handle it if he lost her. Not again. Not after everything they had been through.

He noticed that she wasn't moving again now, and he figured that she had been right – Nessa and Galinda had warned him that she might be drowsy for at least another day because of her medication, and after everything she'd been through, he couldn't expect her to just keep on going like nothing ever happened. Her entire body was off balance right now and that included her sleeping habits. Maybe Galinda was right – maybe he shouldn't immediately assume the worst.

But he just couldn't help worrying when it came to Elphaba.

He drew her into his arms, planting a kiss on the top of her head. She didn't stir and he listened carefully until he heard her soft, even breathing; only then did he feel reassured. He tucked the blankets around her and held her close, kissing her cheek, stroking her side, burying his face in her neck – as long as he was as close to her as he could possibly be, he didn't care.

At some point she did move; she murmured his name and turned in his arms, snuggling up against him with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Only then did he finally allow himself to drift off to sleep as well.

He slept fitfully that night. Every sound, every movement woke him up. At some point he suddenly started awake and he realised Elphaba wasn't there, and he already started to panic; then he saw her emerging from the bathroom.

"Sorry," she murmured as she burrowed back into his arms. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"That's okay." He stroked her hair. "I'm just a bit paranoid, I guess."

She opened one eye. "You guess?"

He stuck out his tongue and she chuckled softly, lacing their fingers together and kissing the back of his hand. "I love you."

He melted instantly and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you. More than you'll ever know."

Suddenly feeling wide awake, she stared off into the dark for a few moments.

She remembered their goodbye at the hospital. She remembered him telling her that he had loved her ever since they rescued that Lion Cub together. He had been absolutely frantic just now, when he had thought her to be dead or in a coma again. She still found it strange and foreign and hard to accept, but… he really did love her.

And she loved him, too. That was something that was very hard for her to admit, because she had never loved anyone before… not like this, anyway. She loved Nessa, and she loved Galinda, too; but this was different. No-one in her life had ever loved her like this. No-one had ever loved everything she was, skin and all – not to mention her temper, sarcasm and magical powers. He loved her for her, despite – or, if she should believe him, _including_ – her many, many flaws.

Admitting to him – and to herself – that she loved him back felt like jinxing everything there was between them, and she was terrified that it might end sooner or later; but that didn't change the fact that it was true. She loved him more than anything in this world.

"Yero?" she whispered, just as he was almost asleep again.

He pulled her a little closer with one arm, not even opening his eyes. "Mm?"

"Yes."

He frowned, still not opening his eyes. "Yes, what?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes, I'll marry you."

_That _got his attention. His eyes immediately opened and he stared at her, stunned speechless for a moment.

"Are you… do you mean that?" he asked her faintly. She could hear the hope in his voice and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"Yes," she said.

This was crazy. She knew that. Yes, she had loved him for a long time already; but they had only gotten together twelve days ago… and she hadn't even actually been _alive _all that time. No-one except for Galinda and Nessa even knew they were together.

But it felt right. _This _felt right. She had seen for herself how devastated he had been, how scared he was to lose her; and that convinced her of the fact that this… thing… between them was more than just a simple crush. It was love. And they'd been through so much together that she felt like they had been together like this for years already.

Maybe she just _wanted _to be crazy for once in her life. Maybe she just wanted to listen to her heart instead of her practical side for once.

She looked up at him. All she saw was hope, joy and love; and it convinced her that this was the right decision.

"Yes," she said again. "I mean it. Yero, I… I love you. And you're right – I don't want to go back to Frex, to my old life… ever. Especially not after what he tried to do to me. I want to be with you. I know that. I don't see why we can't start right now." She looked up at him, her dark eyes shining. "Let's elope, Yero."

Before she had even finished speaking, he had captured her lips with his and she melted into the kiss.

"Now?" he whispered eagerly when they finally broke apart.

She laughed softly. "I was thinking we could wait until morning first," she said teasingly.

He made a face and then started tickling her sides. "That's what I meant!"

She giggled and squirmed in an attempt to get away from his fingers. He stopped tickling and pulled her closer again for a long, deep kiss.

"I love you, Elphaba," he whispered, kissing every inch of her face he could see.

She turned onto her back, allowing her practical side to take over. "We'll need to find a place we can go to marry," Elphaba reasoned. "And someone to perform the service…"

"Glin said there's a nice chapel in Shiz," he murmured, still kissing her. "We could go there. I'm sure they have a celebrant or something who can perform our wedding."

"And we'll need witnesses –"

"I'm sure Glin and Nessa won't mind coming."

"And if we're inviting Galinda, I'm going to have to wear a wedding dress –"

"Fae, I don't care what you're wearing when we get married. You can wear one of your beloved black frocks if you want to. Or a burlap sack. Or nothing at all."

She glared at him. "Wouldn't you like that?"

He grinned. "Maybe. But then again," he realised, "that would mean that the marriage officiant would see that, too, and… okay, never mind."

Elphaba chuckled.

He planted a kiss on her nose. "Don't worry about it, Fae," he whispered. "I'll take care of everything. All you have to do is say yes."

"I already did."

"In that case, just lie back," he gently pushed her down, "and go to sleep, because Oz knows you need it to heal; and tomorrow after your check-up at the hospital we're going into town to arrange everything. Okay?"

She nodded, her head on his shoulder. "Okay."

They soon drifted off to sleep again – a peaceful sleep this time.

* * *

"Looking good, Miss Elphaba." The doctor scribbled something down in his file and peered at the green girl over his glasses. "Just take it easy for the next few weeks, alright? Listen to your body. I want you to take these pills," he put a small jar of them on the table, "for three more days, and then I want to see you again for another check-up. Right now you need rest, food and fluids. Make sure you eat and drink enough and get enough sleep. You can slowly start attending classes again, say, next week, if you feel up to it; but until then, you just need to rest. Don't overdo yourself. Got that?"

She grumbled something under her breath.

Fiyero put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry," he told the doctor. "I'll make sure of it."

The man eyed them curiously. "You're her boyfriend, right?"

"Her fiancé, actually," Fiyero said casually, loving the sound of that. He supposed it was true, technically. He had proposed and she had said yes, so…

"So," the doctor said as he put the file away. "It's quite the scandal, isn't it? Madame Morrible arrested…" He shook his head. "I must say, I never liked the woman. I don't think anyone did. It was only because she was the Wizard's Press Secretary that people tolerated her, but I can't say I'm surprised that she had an agenda of her own."

Fiyero looked up, startled. "What?"

Elphaba, next to him, was just as baffled.

"You haven't heard?" The doctor looked at them. "You remember that the leaders of Oz gathered together to discuss the matter of who will rule Oz from now on, correct?"

Fiyero nodded. "My father, and hers," he nodded towards Elphaba, "are both among those leaders. We heard."

"Ah yes, of course. King Hamold of the Vinkus and Governor Thropp of Munchkinland." The doctor looked at them both. "Apparently they discovered that Madame Morrible has been working behind the Wizard's back," he said. "She has committed crimes against Oz, against the Wizard. I don't know the specifics, but apparently she has used magic to torture innocent citizens, she committed a few murders and there was something to do with Animals…" The doctor shook his head. "She's been brought to Southstairs and is awaiting her sentence now," he said. "Personally, I'd prefer death."

"Who doesn't?" muttered Fiyero, feeling relieved at the thought of Morrible safely locked up in Southstairs. He had sent his father a letter a while ago, right after Elphaba had discovered what the Wizard and Morrible had been up to. He had told King Hamold about the Animals and about everything Elphaba had found out; his father had never replied, but maybe, just maybe, the story had made a bit of a difference. Fiyero didn't really care how it had happened, though – he was just glad that Morrible's true nature had been revealed to all of Oz and that she was locked up now.

"Thank you," he said as he shook the doctor's hand. He then helped Elphaba up from her chair and led her out to the carriage, where she sagged against him, tired.

He kissed her hair. "I'll take you home soon," he promised her. "Let's go into town first, I'll arrange for us to be married this afternoon, and then we can go back to Shiz. Okay?"

"This afternoon?" she echoed, sounding sleepy, but amused. "My, aren't we enthusiastic?"

He looked sheepish. "I mean, we can wait if you want to –"

She leant up to kiss him. "No," she mumbled. "This afternoon is fine. Nessa and Galinda are going to have a fit, though."

He grinned. "Oh, who cares? As long as we're getting married." He pulled her a bit closer. "It's strange, isn't it? That Morrible is gone now."

"Let's hope she doesn't escape from Southstairs," said Elphaba sarcastically.

Fiyero lightly slapped her arm. "Don't be a pessimist," he chided her. "She's safely locked up, Fae. My father – and I guess yours, too – will see to that. She can't hurt us – or you – ever again." He kissed the top of her head again. "I promise."

She smiled. "I know." She leant against him, entwining their fingers. "Finally we can just focus on the good things."

He brought their hands up to his mouth and kissed her fingers. "Like what?"

Her smiled widened. "We're going to be married, Yero."

His grin was so radiant it could compete with the sun.

* * *

**By the way, I'm going to do some promo here: Wickedly Hope Panacake has started this thing called the Wicked Plot Bunny adoption center. Basically it's where you can drop off the ideas your plot bunnies give you when you don't have time to write them. People can drop off story ideas or 'adopt' them, so it's useful when you have inspiration but no time, but also when you have time but no inspiration! :)**

**Also, would you mind taking the poll on my profile? It's practically the same as my old one, only that one was about my multichaps and this one is about my one-shots :3. Thanks!**


	15. Married

**AN: Sorry for the long wait, but here is a very long final chapter for this story! I wasn't sure how to end it, what to write and what not to write... I've been debating having Morrible escape from prison and crash the wedding or something, but I decided against it - I've had her escape from prison so many times in my other stories, I figured she should just stay put for once :P. So... this is the final chapter.**

**PocketSevens: That little speech actually almost had me in tears. Almost. Would you mind if I saved it for some Fiyeraba wedding that may or may not be happening in one of my other stories somewhere in the future and used it for that? :)**

**I hope you're happy with this ending! (I hope you're happy, I hope you're happy now... Sorry. Had to do that.)**

* * *

**Chapter 15. Married**

Elphaba had been right – Nessa and Galinda _did _have a fit when they were informed that the wedding would be that afternoon… although it was for different reasons.

"Fabala," Nessa pleaded. "The doctor said _bed rest_. I think eloping after having been out of the hospital for just a few days would count as 'overdoing yourself'. Shouldn't you wait?"

Elphaba had managed to convince her that she would be fine and she promised her sister to let them know if she wasn't feeling well.

"It's not a big wedding, Nessie," she said. "There won't be anyone present except for the two of us, you, Galinda and the celebrant. No stress involved. I'll be fine."

Galinda, however, was more difficult to calm down.

"Oh my Oz!" she screeched as she stood there in Fiyero's dorm room, gaping at the couple. "What is Nessa going to wear? What am _I _going to wear?" She looked at Elphaba and her eyes widened. "Elphie, you're going to be a _bride_! What are _you _going to wear?! We don't have time to shop for you, and you don't have a _single _dress that's even remotely fashionable, and… and… oh my Oz, Elphie, why are you doing this to me?" she wailed.

Elphaba just raised an eyebrow.

"Nessa." Galinda perked up. "You can borrow a dress from Nessa! I'll go and ask her right away, we'll pick out a dress for you and shoes that match it, and a fitting hairstyle, of course, and make-up…" She left the room, muttering to herself.

Elphaba leant back against Fiyero tiredly. "Should I be worried?"

"If she gets too enthusiastic, you can always say you're too tired and you need to sleep a bit more before the wedding?" Fiyero suggested slyly.

Elphaba grinned and kissed his cheek. "Sometimes you're a genius."

The blonde appeared again a few hours later. Fiyero opened the door for her.

"I found the perfect dress for Elphie!" Galinda sang, only to quickly fall silent when Fiyero brought his finger to his lips and pointed at something behind him. The blonde smiled when she saw Elphaba curled up on Fiyero's bed, fast asleep.

"Are you sure she's not dead?" she whispered with a giggle as she entered the room.

Fiyero just scowled at her.

Galinda carefully spread the dress she was carrying across a chair and placed the matching shoes underneath it. "She's going to look so beautiful!" she whisper-squealed, making Fiyero roll his eyes.

The blonde now turned to face him. "Okay, Fifi," she said sternly. "The moment she wakes up, I want you to come and get me so that I can help her get ready. If she doesn't wake up in time, you just going to have to wake her up yourself –"

"Glin," Fiyero interrupted her sternly. "The doctor said that sleep is the most important thing for her right now. I'm _not _going to wake her up just so you can give her a makeover. She doesn't need that, anyway."

"Aww," Galinda said, clasping her hands together. "That is so sweet. But still, Fifi, she –"

"No."

"Fiyero, _please _–"

"No. Glin," he said, "I promise you that if she wakes up in time, I'll come to get you. But I refuse to wake her up for it. If we don't have time for a makeover, then so be it. To me, she's the most beautiful girl in the world, no matter how her hair or make-up looks or what she's wearing."

Galinda, forgetting herself, actually squealed; and Elphaba stirred on the bed, scrunching up her nose as she pulled a pillow over her head.

"That squeal can only mean one thing," she muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow. "Galinda is here."

"You did that on purpose," Fiyero accused the blonde. "You just can't stand the fact that I would let Elphaba get married without any make-up on!"

"I didn't!" Galinda protested. "I mean, yes, I want her to be pretty and Galindafied when she gets married, but I didn't wake her up on purpose!"

Fiyero just shot her a dark look even as he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, placing his hand on Elphaba's waist. "Morning, sweetheart," he said gently. "How are you feeling?"

"I would have been better if Galinda's squeals hadn't given me a headache," came the muffled reply.

That only earned the blonde yet another deadly look from the Vinkun prince and she slowly shuffled towards the door. "Maybe I should go…"

Elphaba pushed the pillow off her face. "It's fine, Glin. You can stay." She yawned. "It's not like I can fall back asleep, anyway."

Fiyero gently rubbed her back, waiting until she was a little more awake. She curled up around him, her eyes drifting shut again despite her earlier words; but again, Galinda ruined that for her.

"Elphie, no!" the blonde squeaked loudly. "You can't fall back asleep! You have to get ready for your wedding!"

Upon hearing her friend's loud squeals, Elphaba was immediately awake again; and Fiyero glared daggers at the bouncy blonde.

"I'm going to kill you," he declared.

Galinda blinked at him innocently. "Why?"

In the meantime, Elphaba had sat up and was now leaning against Fiyero, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. When she opened them again and saw the dress Galinda had laid out for her, however, her eyes immediately widened.

"No," she declared. "Galinda, I'm not wearing that."

"Oh, yes you are," the blonde said, narrowing her eyes.

"Glin," Elphaba stressed. "It's _white_."

"No, it's not!" Galinda held up the dress. "It's silver," she explained smugly. "It just _looks _white in a certain light…"

Elphaba shot her a glare.

"Aw, come on, Elphie!" Galinda whined. "It's so pretty! Nessa and I spent hours going through her closet, and we found this – it's a dress she wore to some official party once, when your father took her, and… at least try it on before you say no!"

Elphaba caved and slid off the bed, taking the dress and the shoes and disappearing into the bathroom with them. She quickly changed out of her clothes and into the dress, splashed some water in her face and brushed her hair to make her seem a bit more awake, and put on the shoes. Then she left the bathroom without so much as glancing at her mirror image.

"Alright," she said with a sigh as she stepped back into the room. "Go ahead, laugh at me."

Galinda clasped both hands over her mouth and there were actual tears in her eyes. "Oh, Elphie…" she said softly.

Fiyero didn't seem capable of speaking at all. If his eyes widened any further, they would fall out of their sockets.

"Elphie," Galinda declared dramatically, "if you don't wear that dress, I'm going to knock you unconscious and kidnap you to the chapel myself, because you _have _to get married in this. I won't take no for an answer."

"Glin…"

"Have you even seen yourself?" Galinda grabbed her friend and dragged her over to the mirror. Elphaba stared at her reflection.

The dress was, indeed, a silvery white colour. It was form-fitting, gently flowing down from her hips all the way to her feet; and it had spaghetti straps that criss-crossed over her upper back. The straps and bodice were adorned with some beading.

The shoes, as Elphaba had noticed before, were Nessa's precious jewelled ones, which went with the dress almost perfectly.

Galinda was beaming at her. "Just look at yourself!" she squealed. Before Elphaba had a chance to protest, Galinda had pushed her down onto Fiyero's bed and pulled a small make-up set from her purse. "Now, just let me do your make-up..."

* * *

They gathered at the chapel in town a few hours later. Fiyero had dug out a suit that his parents had made him bring to Shiz; Nessa was dressed in rose and Galinda wore an ice blue dress. Elphaba herself was still wearing the silver dress and her sister's jewelled shoes. Galinda had run up and down to her own dorm room to fetch her curling iron, with which she had curled Elphaba's hair. She had then half-pinned it up in a bun, allowing the curls to fall down Elphaba's back. Nessa was constantly beaming at her sister and Galinda couldn't wipe her wide smile off her face.

Elphaba, for her part, was nervous; but her happiness outweighed her nerves. She was marrying Fiyero. It seemed completely crazy and at the same time it just felt completely right.

Galinda handed her friend the bouquet she had bought for her and hugged the green girl. "I love you, Elphie."

Elphaba hugged her back. "Love you, too, Glin."

"I still can't believe you're getting married," Nessa said in wonder, and Elphaba laughed.

"Believe me," she said. "Neither can I."

The ceremony itself almost passed in a blur for Elphaba. It was short, simple and sweet; and apparently Galinda thought so, too, because she was crying before the celebrant had even started speaking. Nessa just silently handed the blonde a handkerchief.

"May I have the rings?" the celebrant spoke.

Elphaba panicked for a moment, thinking they had forgotten about the rings; but then Galinda handed the celebrant a small cushion with two rings sitting on it.

Fiyero, seeing his fiancée's confused expression, winked at her. "I bought them this morning," he whispered. "After your hospital appointment, remember? You stayed in the carriage to sleep, and I went to book a marriage officiant? That's also when I bought the rings."

Elphaba chuckled softly. "So you're really not stupid," she teased him.

He pretended to be offended. "I thought it was 'not really stupid'."

She grinned at him, which Fiyero returned with a smile as he took one of the rings and spoke his vows after the celebrant.

"I, Fiyero, take you, Elphaba, to be my beloved wife, to have and to hold you, to honour you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times and in the bad, and to love and cherish you always. I promise you this from my heart, for all the days of my life."

As he spoke, his eyes never once left hers, not even when he carefully slid the ring around her finger; and she blushed slightly as she repeated her own vows.

"I, Elphaba, take you, Fiyero, to be my beloved husband, to have and to hold you, to honour you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times and in the bad, and to love and cherish you always. I promise you this from my heart, for all the days of my life."

She slipped the ring around Fiyero's left ring finger, and he beamed at her. Behind them, Galinda was sobbing into the handkerchief and even though Nessa seemed to be a bit exasperated at that, she also looked suspiciously misty-eyed herself.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the celebrant declared. "You may kiss the bride."

Fiyero slipped his arms around his wife's waist and drew her closer, smiling down at her before leaning in and capturing her lips with his. Galinda's sobs became even louder and Nessa was sniffling now as well.

When they finally broke apart, Fiyero rested his forehead against Elphaba's, looking deep into her chocolate brown eyes.

"I love you," he murmured.

Her smile widened and she leant up to kiss him again. "I love you, too, Yero my hero."

They left the chapel shortly thereafter. Galinda was still dabbing at her eyes with the handkerchief even as Nessa wheeled herself forward to hug her sister and her new brother-in-law.

"Congratulotions, both of you," she said with a smile. "I'm really happy for you, Fabala."

Elphaba hugged her sister again. "Thanks, Nessie."

Galinda then threw herself at her best friend, sobbing once again. "That was so beautiful!"

Elphaba, Nessa and Fiyero just exchanged an amused and exasperated look over the blonde's head.

"Come on," Fiyero said, sliding his arm around Elphaba's waist and pulling her closer. "Let's get you back to Shiz."

Elphaba shook her head. "I don't want to go back yet," she said. "I'm not tired," she added when she saw Fiyero's face. "Really, I'm feeling fine. Can't we go out for dinner or something and go back after that?"

Galinda's eyes lit up. "Ooh, that's a great idea!" she said.

Fiyero reluctantly agreed and they made their way over to a nice restaurant nearby.

As they waited for their food to arrive, Elphaba started biting her lip nervously. "Maybe this hasn't been such a good idea after all."

Fiyero, alarmed, turned to face her. "What?" He took her hand and looked at her worriedly. "Why?"

She sighed. "You're the heir to the Vinkun throne," she reminded him. "Do you think your parents would approve of… of this? They don't even know me."

Fiyero shrugged. "They've heard enough about you through my letters," he said. "And to be completely honest, I don't care what they think. We're married now and it's not like they can do anything about it."

Elphaba didn't feel reassured, but Nessa said gently, "Fabala."

The green girl looked up.

"Do you want me to talk to Father for you?" the younger girl asked softly. "See if I can placate him?"

Elphaba shrugged. "Honestly? I doubt it would be of any help," she said. "He'll be furious."

"But you won't have to go back to him." Nessa smiled and squeezed her sister's arm. "You'll be fine, Fabala. Just enjoy today – you're married! And you're a princess!"

Galinda squealed. "Ooh, you are!"

Elphaba chuckled. "To be completely honest, I'm still getting used to the 'wife' part. I'll just focus on the 'princess' part later, okay?"

"You're _my _princess," Fiyero said as he planted a kiss on the top of her hair.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Thank Oz. I was already starting to worry that us being married would stop you from being cheesy," she said teasingly.

He laughed and drew her closer. "Never."

The food was delicious and they spent the next two hours or so talking and laughing together about everything and nothing. Fiyero just couldn't keep his hands off Elphaba. Not in an inappropriate way, of course; but he was constantly holding her hand, or he put his arm around her waist or her shoulders, or he leant down to kiss her. Elphaba struggled weakly and swatted at him, blushing furiously – especially when Galinda and Nessa started squealing and smiling widely whenever they saw it – but he didn't let go of her.

After dinner, they returned to Shiz. Fiyero only barely managed to sit Elphaba down on the couch, peel her dress off her and put her in a shirt of his to sleep in, before she fell asleep against his shoulder; and he scooped her up in his arms and moved her to the bed, changing into his own nightclothes and joining her within a few minutes. He watched her as she slept, a smile playing around his lips. She was so beautiful… and now she was all his.

He wrapped her in his arms and buried his nose in her hair, breathing in her scent. He still couldn't believe that she was here and she was real. Everything that had happened between them was real, even though most people would never know that – they wouldn't believe it, anyway. But it was real to them. They knew it had happened, and that was the most important thing.

He loved her beyond reason, and he was so incredibly grateful that she had woken up from her coma and that she would be alright again, and that she remembered everything that had happened now; but also that they were married, that she could stay with him, for the rest of their lives. Because frankly, the thought of her going back to Munchkinland, to the father who cleared out her room days after she had fallen into her coma, the man who had cut off the life support of his own daughter… it sent shivers down his spine.

On a rational level, he knew that Frex wouldn't actually _kill _Elphaba; but that didn't make much of a difference to Fiyero. In any case, he was beyond relieved that she would never have to return there ever again.

* * *

Fiyero wrote a letter to his parents the next day, telling them that he and Elphaba were married. Elphaba sent a letter to Munchkinland as well, figuring there was no use in stalling; her father would find out about it anyway.

Fiyero received a reply a few days later – his parents apologised that they couldn't come over to Shiz at the moment, but that there was a lot going on in the Emerald City, where they were still staying, and they would stop by later. They wrote that even though this had come as a complete surprise for them and they weren't exactly happy with the way it had happened – they were royalty after all, and Fiyero was the heir to the Vinkun throne – they were happy for them both and congratulated them on their marriage.

_Honestly, _his mother wrote, _if this girl is the one that changed you to the point where you're actually getting good grades and settling down, we can only be grateful to her. I'm proud of you, Yero._

His father added a short report about the things happening in the City at the moment.

_We have appointed a new ruler of Oz, _he wrote. _A Gillikinese man that has ruled Gillikin for a few years at some point and has been a general in the Ozian army, so he is well accustomed to being a leader. We don't expect any trouble with him; but just to be sure, he will be watched closely by all the rulers of the different provinces to make sure something like this will never happen again._

He also wrote that Morrible was still in prison; and most of the people were demanding her being sentenced to death. The Vinkun king wasn't sure if that would happen, but he assured them that at the very least she would stay locked up safely in Southstairs for the rest of her life.

And then Galinda showed up at their door, completely frantic.

"Elphie," she said, out of breath – she had clearly run all the way here. "Your father is here."

Elphaba swore softly under her breath.

"He wants to talk to you," Galinda continued. "He's furious – Nessa is trying to calm him down a little."

Fiyero helped Elphaba to her feet, keeping his arm around her waist to steady her. "Do you want to go now?"

"Might as well get it over with," Elphaba reasoned. "Besides, it will only get worse if we keep him waiting."

They made their way over to the courtyard, where Frexspar was sitting on a bench, listening to Nessarose talking. When he saw them approaching, he rose to his feet, his gaze icy.

"Elphaba," he hissed coldly. "You are many things, but I never thought stupid was one of them. Have you completely lost your mind?"

Elphaba straightened her back and raised her chin defiantly. She was ready to tell him what she should have told him a long time ago.

Fiyero, sensing her determination even though he didn't know what she was planning, tightened his grip on her waist.

"I love Fiyero," she declared, meeting her father's gaze. "That's all you need to know. I don't have to defend myself or to explain myself to you, Father. I am an adult and I can make my own decisions. Nessa was there and she approved, as did Galinda, and that is what matters to me."

Frex' eyes narrowed. "You foolish little girl," he spat, but she wasn't finished yet.

"You never cared about me," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "You have hated me from the moment I was born, and why? Because my _skin _was a different colour. You accused me of having caused my mother's death and my sister's disability, and I believed you. For years, I let you dominate my life. I used to think that if I only cared for Nessa, if I did well at school, if I behaved the way you wanted me to, that maybe you would notice me. The real me. That maybe you would care, maybe you would even be _proud _of me."

Frex didn't say anything.

"But the truth is that no matter what I did," she said, looking up at him, "it was never enough. It would never have been enough, because you didn't care. You didn't _want _to care. I used to think that I didn't deserve to be loved. Fiyero," she gripped his hand tightly and he squeezed hers, letting her know that he stood with her, "Fiyero and Galinda were the first ones to show me that I do. I do deserve to be loved, just as much as anyone else. And Oz knows I never found that love with you."

Frex still kept silent, though he looked at Nessarose for a moment, as if determining her stand in all this.

"I'm not asking you to care," said Elphaba. "I'm not asking you all that much, really. You don't have to write to me, or talk to me, or even acknowledge me; because I know that that's what you've wanted since the moment I was born. All I'm asking is for you to allow me to visit Nessa and to allow her to visit me. That's it. I married Fiyero because I love him and I know I will be happy with him. When summer comes, we'll be going to the Vinkus together; and once we graduate, I'm going to live there. You won't have to see me ever again if you don't want to. Just… just don't cut me out of Nessa's life."

Frex looked at her, really looked at her for perhaps the first time in his life; and he didn't see a green aberration, a living and breathing mistake that caused commotions and disgrace everywhere she went. Just for a moment, he saw her for the strong young woman she had grown into, and he faltered.

"Father," Nessa said softly.

He looked at her.

"Please?" his youngest daughter asked him.

Frex looked at Elphaba, then back at Nessa and then at his oldest daughter again.

"Very well, then," he conceded. "That is how it will be."

Nessa broke into a smile and Elphaba sighed with relief, leaning a bit more heavily against Fiyero. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her temple.

Frex looked at them both, watching them silently for a moment. Then he said, "Congratulotions."

Elphaba gave a small nod and Fiyero said, "Thank you."

Nessa wheeled forward to hug her sister tightly; then Fiyero joined in and so did Galinda, and they ended up in a group hug, with Frex watching them a little awkwardly.

When Elphaba was sitting on the edge of Fiyero's bed later that day, running a brush through her long, ebony hair, Fiyero went to sit behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, planting a kiss at the back of her neck.

"I am so proud of you," he told her as he put his chin on her shoulder. "The way you stood up to your father this afternoon… it was amazing. You were so brave and so strong, Fae."

She blushed. "It was nothing," she waved him off. "But… I wanted him to know that he has no right to protest now that I'm finally doing something for myself. He never wanted me as a daughter, so he has no say over me now."

Fiyero smiled and pulled her back onto the bed so that she was lying on her back and he was hanging over her. "I love you, my beautiful wife."

Her smile was dazzling. "I love you, my amazing husband," she replied, kissing him upside down.

He pulled her further onto the bed and lay down next to her, running his fingers through her hair as he drew her even closer.

"Who could have guessed that we'd end up like this that day you showed up in my room as a ghost?" Fiyero asked, shaking his head in amazement. "Do you realise that it's only been, like, two weeks?"

She smiled. "You know…" She brought her hand up to trace his jaw line with her fingers. "Despite everything, I kind of liked the way we were back then," she said softly. "The fact that you were the only one who could see me, I mean."

He turned his head and kissed her fingers. "You scared me to death that day," he murmured. "And many more times after that."

She chuckled. "I guess I'm going to miss the fact that I could walk through walls, and transport myself anywhere I wanted to, and the fact that no-one else could see me…" She looked into his eyes. "But I'm glad to be back," she said softly. "Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten married, for one, and I wouldn't have missed that for the world. I'm so proud to be your wife now, Yero."

He sniffled.

She blinked, taken aback. "Are you crying?"

"No," he sniffled.

She grinned. "You are!"

"I'm just…" He sighed and kissed her forehead. "I'm just grateful to have you," he said honestly. "In every way possible. I'm grateful to have you back from your coma, and to have you, in general… to have you as my wife. And I will do everything in my power to make you happy, Fae. For the rest of my life. Because you deserve that, and so much more."

She laughed incredulously, wiping her own eyes with her sleeve. "Now you're making _me _cry."

He stroked her back softly, moving to pull the blankets over her. She snuggled into his embrace with a happy sigh and he continued to stroke her back, lulling her to sleep.

"I promise you, Elphaba," he said softly, "that no matter what happens, to you, or to me, or to us… I will always love you. Forever. If you'll let me."

He had thought her to already be asleep, but she just smiled and curled into him a little bit more, her head on his chest.

"I guess I'm okay with that."

Fiyero just grinned like an idiot.

* * *

**I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing, adding this story to your favourites or following it - it really means the world to me. And a big, huge, enormous thank you to all those people who have nominated me or voted for me in the Greg Awards!**


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